Lucky Celts given stark warning
Manager Gordon Strachan had to rely on substitute Jiri Jarosik to grab a late equaliser after David Murphy had given the lively visitors a first-half lead.
After Saturday’s result, the faltering Parkhead side have won only once in their last five Premier League games.
McManus laid down the law to the Celtic players: “We are not defending well as a team. That’s clear for everyone to see.
“It is very frustrating. You don’t go on the park to get beaten, you go on to win, but sometimes it doesn’t go as planned and that’s when you have to see a different mentality. You don’t judge players on how mentally strong they are when winning.
“It’s how you react when you get beaten, that’s when players need to stand up and be counted.
“At this club it is vital to win every game. At Celtic and Rangers the pressures are so high and now the new lads here are starting to realise that.
“When thing don’t go too well, you all need to rally round, stick together and put things right and that’s what we are going to do.”
Hibernian’s first-half performance belied the fact that John Collins had quit as manager only on Thursday.
Caretaker boss Tommy Craig, Collins’ former assistant, needed some luck in a desperate second half in which the Easter Road side survived five minutes of added time as Celtic piled forward looking for the winner.
Rangers missed the chance to move level with Celtic at the top of the table, although they survived the dismissal of Lee McCulloch to earn a hard-fought draw with Aberdeen yesterday.
Rangers struck first when McCulloch crossed for Charlie Adam to score from close range but McCulloch was then sent-off for kicking out at Scott Severin as tempers boiled over.
Aberdeen restored parity with the final chance of the half when Lee Miller pounced after Allan McGregor could not gather Richie Byrne’s cross, leaving Rangers two points behind Celtic with two matches in hand.
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