Ange Postecoglou says close enough is not good enough for Celtic.
The Parkhead boss is demanding increased levels of performance as his side prepare for tomorrow’s Premiership crunch against Hibs.
Postecoglou ’s men head to Easter Road with a three-point lead at the top of the table.
But the manager was unhappy at the nature of Thursday night’s European exit at the hands of Bodo/Glimt and is looking for a higher standard.
He also provided injury updates on crocked duo Kyogo Furuhashi and David Turnbull as the title race heats up again.
Postecoglou said: “There’s no good that comes from defeat. We weren’t good enough and we haven’t progressed, so it’s disappointing.
“But that’s a separate issue to the [Hibs] game. We have a big game on Sunday, another difficult game away from home against a good side.
“So we have to make sure that we perform well, as we have been. But that’s not because of anything that happened [on Thursday].
"That’s the expectations on our football club, that we perform in all competitions and our next challenge is the league on Sunday.
“That’s what I am talking about. We want these players to get to that level.
“I think that they can, but they’ll only do it if we keep exposing them and keep putting that assertion on them that close enough is not good enough.”
Postecoglou used an example of missed chances from sub Liel Abada during the Conference League second leg to push home his point.
Asked about the Israeli showing some fight as the game slipped away from his team, the boss said: “He did, but he missed some chances.
“That’s the quality we want them to get to and that’s his challenge because I think he could have had at least a couple of goals in Norway.
“That’s what I am talking about with levels of performance. It’s not just we didn’t play well, but in both games we had chances and haven’t tested the keeper. Daizen Maeda had one as well.
“Liel did very well, but I’m hoping he’s disappointed he didn’t score a couple of goals because he has scored in Europe before.”
Abada is among those who could return to the starting line-up in Leith having been benched at the beginning in Bodo.
Cameron Carter-Vickers, Jota, Josip Juranovic, Greg Taylor were all unused in the Arctic Circle as Postecoglou looked to manage the group ahead of the Capital clash.
Shaun Maloney’s team are finding some form, but Celtic have won all three meetings of the teams this term.
Postecoglou said: “I think when you look at the league in general, it’s become pretty tight now.
“There are not too many teams that hit a consistent run of results. They are in a similar boat, but they are still in a good position in the league because it’s so tight.
“We have to expect it’s going to be a tough game. It always is when you are away from home. We’ve just got to make sure we perform well.”
Postecoglou, meanwhile, has offered a short update on injured pair Turnbull and Kyogo, who have been out since December.
He told Sky Sports earlier that Kyogo wouldn't be "far off" from his highly-anticipated return
But he said here: “Turnbull is almost back training, but Kyogo is nowhere near it.”
