O'Dea sets sights on Kilmarnock

Celtic captain Darren O’Dea was relieved after skippering his side to a 1-0 victory against Hamilton.

After losing to Hibernian last time out, the Hoops made heavy work of beating Hamilton with a second-half goal from new signing Morten Rasmussen.

And O’Dea demanded another win in Tuesday’s visit to Kilmarnock.

“It was one we needed after the bad result we had in the last game,” O’Dea said.

“We need to kick on to Tuesday and win again. We were hanging on a little bit and that’s maybe through the lack of confidence we’ve had recently.”

Rasmussen was delighted to have marked his Celtic debut with a goal, thrusting the ball home in the 68th minute after the ball had broken to him on the edge of the box.

“It was not the prettiest goal but they just have to go into the net to count,” Rasmussen told ESPN.

Celtic manager Tony Mowbray was pleased with the close-range debut goal from Rasmussen.

“We knew chances would come and thankfully the new boy turned and stuck one in the bottom corner,” Mowbray said on ESPN.

“He’s probably not as dynamic or as clever with the ball as some of our other strikers, but he plays in the box and scores scruffy goals like that.”

Mowbray also insisted Australian frontman Scott McDonald has a future at Celtic, despite Rasmussen’s arrival.

“Yes of course. Most top teams have four strikers,” said the former West Brom boss.

Middlesbrough are keen on McDonald, and there could be transfer activity involving Celtic before the transfer window closes on Monday night.

“There’s still a little bit to be done. We’re working very hard,” Mowbray said.

“The phone has already been ringing and I’ll be having a few more conversations after the game.”

He added: “Let’s just say we’re looking for some good players.”

Mowbray has often been criticised for putting entertainment above results, but he stressed Celtic’s priority is to put points on the board, as they attempt to cut Rangers’ lead.

He said: “While we’ll always try to be expansive and entertaining, we must try to build off clean sheets.”

Hamilton boss Billy Reid accepted his side had not offered a substantial threat to their visitors.

Reid said: “We didn’t work Artur Boruc enough but the commitment of the players was there.”