O'Neill bemoans international call-ups

Celtic manager Martin O’Neill has blamed World Cup fixtures for his side’s surprising home loss to Hearts.

The 2-0 defeat on Saturday enabled Rangers to reclaim top spot in the Bank of Scotland Premier League the following day through a hard-fought win at Motherwell.

It was the third time this season that the Hoops had lost a league fixture in front of their own fans.

And O’Neill told Celtic View: “I would have to say the international break most definitely affected our preparations for the match.

“For example, we didn’t see the majority of the squad together again until Friday, the day before the game. In fact Stilian Petrov didn’t get back until the Friday night so he didn’t train with the squad at all.

“If you actually look at some of the other games being played across Europe in the wake of the internationals where teams have had a number of their players away with their national sides you will see it has definitely had an effect on their results as well.

“During the game against Hearts you could see some of the players were tired, particularly the ones who had played two games the week before.”

Petrov, Stan Varga, Jackie McNamara, John Hartson, Craig Bellamy, Stephane Henchoz, David Marshall, Shaun Maloney and Aiden McGeady had all been away representing various countries at the end of March.

And goalkeeper Robert Douglas returned injured having had to pull out of Scotland’s 2-0 defeat in Italy six minutes before half time because of a groin problem.

Hearts could argue that they had also had a number of players who had just reported back from international duty however, including Scotland’s Steven Pressley.

And O’Neill admitted: “In a month’s time no-one will remember these sorts of things and they will only remember the result.”