O'Neill: Juninho not to blame

Celtic manager Martin O’Neill today defended Juninho after his disappointing performance in the 3-0 Champions League Group F defeat to Shakhtar Donetsk.

The Brazilian playmaker struggled to get into the game and was unable to do much to hurt the Ukraine outfit.

Juninho accepted that he had let his team-mates down but his manager was refusing to point the finger at him.

“The expectations on his arrival were high but asking him to win games on his own is a big ask,” said O’Neill.

“It will take a bit of time for him to settle in and he has been out of action for a little while but he will be excellent for us in the final third.

“He came here and is trying to get match fit at league level. I am very hopeful of him being a success.”

O’Neill admitted his players had been “punching above their weight” for some time which makes it almost impossible for them to progress in Europe.

Jackie McNamara and Chris Sutton were also injured during the game to add to O’Neill’s problems.

The Celtic boss was told by chairman Brian Quinn at the club’s AGM recently there was no money available for new players unless they were to “surprise” the board again with a run in Europe.

But a frustrated and ambitious O’Neill is in a no-win situation which many fear could force him to leave as they now face missing out on even a UEFA Cup consolation place.

“That (having no money to spend) is definitely a factor no doubt about it,” he sighed.

“There are no excuses but we’ve seen this one before and it is very, very difficult.

“Last night or any other night in European football I cannot criticise this pool of players because they are punching miles above their weight.

“They have took us to the UEFA Cup final and other trophies but asking young players to come in and play European football before they have had 10 chances under their belt at league level is a big ask.

“There were a number of players who finished the game that in normal circumstances I would have preferred to have league games before Europe.

“That’s the way it is. They are not prepared for these big games just yet so that shows the problem.

“It is my own view that in the Champions League, Porto and Milan have been in finals and they have players on the bench who have vast experience of these matches.

“These boys will eventually come through but it is a reminder to us that Shakhtar Donetsk can spend that kind of money on new players and this is a poor country.

“It doesn’t mean that if you spend £200m (€289.6m) then you will automatically win the Champions League because that doesn’t happen as we’ve seen.

“But if you spend £200m then you will have the better players than if you are unable to spend that kind of money and a better chance of being successful.”