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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
David Irvine

Ange Postecoglou admits Celtic were 'a bit desperate' against Motherwell

Ange Postecoglou has admitted Celtic were "a bit desperate at times" as they drew with Motherwell at Parkhead.

The Celtic boss was disappointed with the performance as his side uncharacteristically dropped points at home this season.

Callum McGregor had opened the scoring after 24 minutes but the league leaders were pegged back to level terms by Kevin Van Veen's effort after 55 minutes.

For Postecoglou, it was a frustrating afternoon as his side didn't take advantage of chances and "lost composure" as they chased a winning goal.

He said: "Obviously it's a disappointing outcome and the performance was not really at the levels we've shown before. We controlled the game for the most part pretty well.

"First half was fine. We scored our goal and we had some chances to get a second which we didn't take advantage of. But at the same time I thought we were in control.

"We knew the game would open up but then we conceded a really poor goal from our perspective which gave the opposition some encouragement and we lost our composure a little bit, got a bit desperate at times. Having said that, we made some good chances to score a goal and we didn't take them."

The Celtic boss added: "When you set the standards we set you've just got to make sure you're doing everything within your control to maintain and reach those standards.

"We conceded a really poor goal which is unlike us, and that seemed to filter through into our play after that.

"We were trying to chase the game a little bit which we've been pretty good at not doing. But it's only natural that the guys are going to try and make amends and score a goal but I thought we lacked the composure to do that."

Asked if the match offered any food for thought ahead of the Scottish Cup semi-final against Rangers next week, Postecoglou said: "Every game is an opportunity for us to improve. We do what we normally do and review the game.

"The lads are disappointed. We just have to lick our wounds and get on with it. That's the game of football.

"You can't just expect everything to run smoothly. It's a little bit of a challenge for us now to get over this disappointment and focus on a big game next week."

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