O'Neill hoping to splash cash in the summer

Celtic manager Martin O’Neill admits he is hoping the profits from another successful European campaign this season will be used to bolster the Parkhead side’s flagging squad in the summer.

After a fabulous if unexpected 1-0 aggregate win over Catalan giants Barcelona, the Hoops are in the UEFA Cup quarter-finals for the second season in a row where they face another Spanish side – Villarreal.

However, despite upsetting all the odds in the Nou Camp, the Irishman won’t be fooled into thinking another great European run means his squad won’t need an injection of fresh blood for the new season.

He said: “I wasn’t worried about the financial implications of the Barcelona tie but I think the way it’s been budgeted at the club is that every game from that round onwards is money in the bank.

“What I said last season is that considering the resources, we do punch above our weight – I’ve said that lots of times.

“We’re contesting a quarter-final again and we’ve played a lot of games with basically not a lot of players.

“And the last time we paid decent money on a player was two seasons ago, on John Hartson.

“The game has changed over the years.

“When I was at Nottingham Forest, they were a provincial club and their success in Europe was phenomenal but they still bought the first £1million player in Britain.

“But over the years the big teams have got stronger.

“Because of the feelgood factor about the club at the minute and the European experiences in the last couple of seasons, the supporters are definitely wanting it to continue and the only way we can do that is to improve the team.

“We give it our lot every week but if there is money now then we have to build from a position of strength.”

O’Neill admits however, that the home-grown talent coming through at the moment augurs well for the future of the club.

He said: “The omens are good. The young players coming through like David Marshall, Stephen Pearson and John Kennedy are giving me all the encouragement at the moment.

“It’s never been my call as manager of this club to be saying that we should be playing young Scottish players.

“It certainly wasn’t in my contract that I had to play players who had played for Scotland Under-21s or Scotland Under-18s but we had seven Scottish players on against Hibernian at one stage or another and we went into the game against Barcelona with three under-21 lads from Scotland.

“Everyone lives in the short term but it would be nice if the fans could look into the future and see some kids coming through.”