O’Neill speaks from experience as he prepares to let some players down

MARTIN O’NEILL knows just how upset some of his stars will be next week when he tells them they will not be starting against FC Porto in the UEFA Cup final.

But the Celtic manager had a comforting message for them yesterday that he lifted the European Cup just one year after the same happened to him.

O'Neill still remembers being called a liar by Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough before the 1979 final and left out of the side after declaring himself fit.

The Northern Irishman watched his team-mates lift the famous trophy after their victory over Malmo in Munich, but a year later he was all smiles when he got his hands on the European Cup after helping the English side beat Hamburg in the Bernabeu.

"When it comes round, that's part of the job," said O'Neill.

"You've got to get on with it. I wasn't best pleased with Mr Clough when he left me out of the European Cup final.

"Archie Gemmill, myself and Frank Clark were in the corner in the stadium in Munich early morning and all three declared ourselves fit.

"I hadn't played for three weeks because I had a thigh injury at the time, but I played in the semi-final and he would be hard-pressed the next morning not to pick the same team.

"So all three declared we were fit and he told all three of us we were lying, but he went and picked Frank Clark because he was old and there was little chance of him getting a medal again but we did do it the next year."

The momentum is certainly with Celtic after their 6-2 win at Dundee, but O'Neill admitted he would rather have had the relaxed build-up of the Porto players ahead of the UEFA final. They have comfortably wrapped up the Portuguese title and Jose Mourinho has been able to rest some of his biggest stars during their run-in.

Many would prefer to be in Celtic's shoes with every game a cup tie as they fight it out with Rangers for the title, but O'Neill feels Porto have the advantage.

He continued: "I would have preferred to have won the championship by 11 points and be able to plan accordingly and not worry too much about injuries, which is always the risk.

"But it showed you the commitment of the team on Wednesday night.

"Porto's build-up is more relaxed and they have been able to change the side around and work on a few different things, whereas we haven't been able to do that.

"But we have got the second from last game out of the way and we are preparing ourselves now for that."

The Celtic manager is still waiting on John Hartson to prove his fitness, but he is overjoyed that goalkeeper Robert Douglas is raring to go again.

"I'm very pleased," said O'Neill. "There was a temptation to start him against Dundee, but if he injured himself then we really would be in trouble. It's good news for us."