Mowbray warns Bhoys to shape up or ship out

TONY MOWBRAY last night warned his Celtic players they face being sold in January if they fail to improve on their recent displays.

Mowbray’s men lost 1-0 to Hamburg at Parkhead to leave their hopes of qualifying from Europa League Group C hanging by a thread.

“The quality needs to improve and I’ve got work hard to try to do that,” Mowbray said. “You only have opportunities in transfer windows to do that.

“As I’ve said to all the players, they’ll all get an opportunity over the next few months – and the last few months – to make sure that they remain at the club.

“The objective is to bring better quality footballers into the team. The supporters for a start deserve a better team on the pitch.”

Mowbray insisted his side’s commitment could not be faulted: “I can’t question their desire and commitment to try to get a result. The opportunities came and went. The final pass, the final finish, the final contact makes the difference.”

Hamburg matchwinner Marcus Berg said: “It was a very important win. Celtic are a good team but I think we showed today that we are a better team.”

CELTIC: Boruc, Wilson, Caldwell, McManus, Naylor, N’Guemo, Brown (McCourt 76), Robson, McGeady, Maloney (McGinn 76), McDonald (Samaras 61).

HAMBURG: Rost, Demel, Rozehnal, Mathijsen, Aogo, Jarolim, Ze Roberto, Elia, Jansen (Trochowski 77), Berg, Pitroipa (Tesche 88).

Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (Italy).