Strachan points finger at Balde

Celtic 2 Livingston 1

The Guinea international gifted Livingston an equaliser at Celtic Park when he tried to walk the ball out of his own penalty area in the 58th minute.

But Livingston striker Robert Snodgrass robbed the former Toulouse man to set up Paul Dalglish, who levelled the scores with a powerful drive from the edge of the box.

Shaun Maloney had given Celtic the lead six minutes before the interval from the penalty spot. However, the Hoops were grateful to Shunsuke Nakamura, who scored the winner with three minutes left.

Strachan said: “People can make mistakes. As long as they are honest mistakes, then we can try to eradicate them. If we can’t eradicate them, then we have to do things about it.

“I spoke to a lot of people about bits and bobs after the game and it was just a general quiet talk. If I was ever to leave a player out of the team, the first person to know would be the player I was thinking about doing it to.”

A relieved Strachan paid tribute to Nakamura for easing the nerves of the anxious Hoops fans in the dying minutes.

He said: “I was pleased with the way we played in the first-half. We made a lot of chances, but didn’t take them and we could have had another penalty, which would have made it easier.

“We eventually got through but we didn’t do enough at the start of the second half to put them under pressure. We allowed them to come back into the game with a mistake. Anxiety took over for 20 minutes, but we are lucky we have Nakamura who can stay above the anxiety and nervousness.”

Livingston player-boss Paul Lambert praised his players for running the league leaders so close.

But the ex-Hoops skipper highlighted the quality of Nakamura, who cost £2.5m from Reggina in the summer, as the difference between the sides.

Lambert said: “We gave as good as we got, but that is what it is like playing at Parkhead - they keep going for 90 minutes.

“That’s why you pay big transfer fees. There is no rocket science in football, that’s what happens.

“If you have good players on the field, the game becomes easier. But my team gave me everything they had and I was proud of them because I didn’t think they deserved what they got.”

CELTIC: Boruc, Telfer, Balde, McManus, Wallace (Virgo 85), Nakamura, Petrov, Lennon, McGeady (McGlinchey 73), Maloney, Hartson.

LIVINGSTON: McKenzie, Vincze, Strong, Mackay, Tierney, Walker (McPake 83), Brittain, Pinxten, Dair, Dalglish (Dorado 87), Snodgrass (Scott 83).

Referee: J Underhill (Scotland).