Petrov moves on defence

STILIAN PETROV has warned Celtic’s under-fire defence that unless they improve they can forget about going all the way to the UEFA Cup final again.

The inquest is under way into how the Bhoys scored twice in the Stade de Gerland and still missed out on a place in the knock-out stages of the Champions League.

Martin O’Neill and a number of players pointed accusing fingers at the men at the back as well as referee Urs Meier, who awarded Lyon the controversial late and decisive penalty.

Goalkeeper Magnus Hedman was to blame for Juninho’s second goal and Giovane Elber was left unmarked for the opener, which prompted harsh words from Petrov.

He said: “We didn’t play very well. It’s very hard to score two goals in the Champions League so it was really frustrating to lose.

“We are still in Europe but we wanted to show everyone we could stay in the Champions League.

“We knew we had a great chance to go through and we didn’t take it so that hurts. We are now in the UEFA Cup and we have to start looking forward to that again.”

And Petrov believes players returning from injury will boost Celtic’s chances in a competition they reached the final of last season. We will have Thomo (Alan Thompson), Jackie (McNamara), Lambo (Paul Lambert) and Didier (Agathe) back which will help,” he said. O’Neill and his players were left sick with rage after Juninho stepped up to score from the spot following Meier’s decision to penalise Bobo Balde for handball.

“I felt we might have held on,” sighed John Hartson. “It was so disappointing because I didn’t think they were going to score.” “We had a fantastic run in the UEFA Cup last season but even though I know it sounds crazy it’s not much of a consolation right now.”

Liam Miller echoed Hartson’s sentiments that a place in the UEFA Cup could not replace competing in the last 16 of the Champions League.

“I can’t think about anything just now and there’s not much I can say,” said the Irishman.

“If you’d have said at the start of the game that we would score two goals then we would have took it.

“The UEFA Cup isn’t really a consolation at the moment. We wanted to play in the Champions League and be in the last 16 and it’s disappointing going so close.

“Of course it makes me want more here at Celtic because this is the place to be for all the players in any team and not just me.”

While the defence and referee were coming under fire, O’Neill refused to use the absences of Thompson, McNamara and Agathe as an excuse.

“You can’t do anything about it,” he shrugged. “I never ever bemoan injuries. O’Neill could also be without goalscorers Chris Sutton and Hartson for tomorrow’s visit of Dundee to Parkhead as both were injured in the defeat to Lyon.

Hartson injured his calf in France and is expected to be ruled out of the SPL game against Dundee although he should be back for the CIS Insurance Cup quarter-final at Hibernian on Thursday.

But Sutton, who also limped out of the defeat at Lyon with a knee injury, is set to feature against Dundee at the weekend.

Wing-back Agathe has begun running outside after his hamstring problem and defender McNamara’s elbow problem has settled down and he is likely to return within a couple of weeks.