Mjallby the hero as tired Celtic snatch late winner

Celtic 3

The frailties in Celtic's back line were exploited by Hibernian who almost managed to snatch a surprise draw against the champions only to be denied by an injury-time winner from Johan Mjallby.

O'Neill was without central defender Bobo Balde and striker Chris Sutton who can also slot into defence after they suffered hamstring strains in the UEFA Cup triumph against Stuttgart on Thursday night.

Despite grabbing the winning goal, O'Neill admits Mjallby is nowhere near full fitness after spending much of the season on the sidelines with an ankle injury, but the Hoops boss reckons the rest of the side's performances can be put down to tiredness .

He said: "I absolutely put it down to Thursday night. Johan Mjallby came in today and he was very tired by the end of the game but he still managed to get up and head the winning goal.

"He isn't remotely near being fit but he showed some heart to keep going right to the end."

Celtic got off to a dream start when John Hartson opened the scoring after just 60 seconds before clinching a second goal midway through the opening half. However, that was cancelled out by a double from Tom McManus.

Just when the Edinburgh side thought they had held on for a valuable point at Parkhead, Mjallby snatched the win after 91 minutes.

O'Neill insisted Hibs squandered one of the best opportunities they will get to take points from his side. He said: "If I were Bobby Williamson before this game, I would have sensed that this was the day that something could happen.

"We would have been vulnerable after Thursday night and, when he looked at the team-sheet, he would have seen that we had some of our big players out."