O'Neill faces selection dilemma after impressive display

Martin O’Neill admitted tonight he faces a huge selection headache ahead of Sunday’s Old Firm showdown after Celtic's showing in Europe tonight – but he revealed injury could ruin Alan Thompson’s hopes of playing.

The English midfielder scored and caught the eye in the 2-0 victory over FK Suduva which wrapped up a 10-1 aggregate score as the Scottish champions reached round two of the UEFA Cup.

David Fernandez was also on the scoresheet while youngsters Shaun Maloney and Colin Healy also dazzled in the Dariaus Ir Gireno Stadium.

The Celtic boss admitted: “I didn’t realise it was David Fernandez’s first full competitive game for the club.

“He scored quite a few in the pre-season games and he did very well for us tonight.

“There were a number of players who did very well tonight. They haven’t played themselves out of contention for Sunday.

“I have so many players to choose from. Alan Thompson was another who did really well. I maybe rushed him back too early from injury and he was struggling a bit for match fitness.

“But he picked up an ankle problem just after half-time. He kept quiet until we had used our subs, but hopefully he will be okay for Sunday.”

But O’Neill was delighted with the performance and result ahead of the first Old Firm clash of the campaign.

He added: “I was very pleased with this result. The young players and experienced players did very well.

“Their attitude was spot on and they showed a lot of spirit and determination to win this one.

“I wanted to win this one in terms of the coefficient for Scotland and I wanted to win it to keep confidence up for the weekend.

“That’s what we have done so I’m delighted with how well we played and the attitude of the players.”

Celtic now look forward to next Friday’s UEFA Cup second round draw, but O’Neill is refusing to get carried away.

He admitted: “How we do depends very much on the draw. Firstly I am very pleased to be in the draw, but I couldn’t look any further than the next two ties that are coming up.

“I don’t know who we’ll play, but last season proved just what can happen when we got Valencia after going out of the Champions League so you never know. We can draw another top quality side.”

Suduva coach Gabrys Algimantas, however, was talking up Celtic’s UEFA Cup aspirations.

He said: “They have some very good young players and look a very good team. They taught us a footballing lesson over the two legs especially in Glasgow and they could go really far.”