Derek McInnes insists Sunday was a 'good time' for Celtic to play Kilmarnock and a 'bad time' for his team to face the Scottish Premiership champions.
Goals by Reo Hatate and Liam Scales had the hosts 2-0 up and cruising at half time at Celtic Park. A heavily deflected Nicolas Kuhn strike and a late hit by Anthony Ralston ensured a resounding scoreline on flag day for Brendan Rodgers and his team.
Killie came into this one just three days after a heartbreaking loss to Cercle Brugge in Belgium, as they exited Europa League qualifying.
The Ayrshire side now has Tromso of Norway to focus on this Thursday in their Europa Conference League third-qualifying round, and McInnes can't wait to get his side back out onto the first for the first leg at Rugby Park.
"The circumstances in which we came into the game meant it was always going to be difficult," the 53-year-old said. "We don’t want to bleep on too much about that because obviously, it is a fallout from being in Europe. We don’t have the biggest squad as it is, but when you’ve got five starters not in your team, a club like us feels that at times.
"We had a makeshift back four with young Ollie [Bainbridge] at 19 playing in his first senior game. He battled away manfully. You never really know how they’ll cope, but we always liked the look of him and we thought he had talent. I thought he stuck to his task. I said to him there that I made my debut in front of four or five thousand in a nothing game at the end of a season, but to have your first senior game at Celtic Park, I thought he came through it with a lot of credit. He only met up with the team yesterday. Brad Lyons filling in as an auxiliary right-back.
"So, I’m glad we’ve come through the game without any injuries. I’m never going to celebrate losing 4-0 at any time but it was always going to be the most difficult game for us coming back from an away game in Belgium. Cercle Brugge really worked us. They’re a physical team. Our running stats were outrageous from both games. I was always a bit concerned about asking boys to go in again. With the team that we put out, we tried to utilise the squad.
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"We now go Thursday-Sunday, Thursday-Sunday in the next couple of weeks and we could do with getting a few away from the physio table and back available for us. I think we’ll be stronger in terms of team selection on Thursday, and then when we play Celtic again the next time that comes around. There was still a lot from the game that I can be pleased about.
"I said to my players that it’s not just about talent when you play Celtic, you’ve got to do so much right in terms of being responsible, meeting the demand and helping your mate. I thought we tried to get through the game as best as we could. It was a good time for Celtic to play us, and a bad time for us to play Celtic – that has to be said.
"I’m disappointed with the last goal – I thought 4-0 was a bit harsh on us. They don’t stick any of the goals in the top corner. I’ve seen some of their play in pre-season, and they’ve been very good, but the first goal comes from a counter-press. Wee Davey [Watson] could maybe play in Fraser Murray instead of Lyons. Celtic are good enough to hunt you down and turn the ball over. The second goal was a set play which you’re always angry about as a coach.
"Other than that, we had a couple of decent moments first half when we got up the pitch. I thought my captain was outstanding again against two centre-backs, he battled away and got us up the pitch. We had a wee fight in us to go get the first goal in the second half, but when their third goes in you just want the referee to blow his whistle and get my players off without getting any more injuries, and thankfully that was the case."
He added: "The boys will get a day off tomorrow, we’ll see where we are on Tuesday and I can’t wait for Thursday. I want us to enjoy that us a club. It’s something that’s new to us to play in Europe and try to navigate these early rounds domestically, but I don’t want Europe just to be these next two games.
"I want us to get through this tie, and Thursday is important. The team picked today was with that in mind."
