Martin O’Neill wants Arne Engels and Alistair Johnston to secure Celtic’s place in the Champions League before pondering big moves to England.
Engels has already been the subject of one failed bid from West Ham, with the Parkhead club braced for a bumper offer from Everton for Johnston.
But, after being paired with Austrian champions LASK in the play-off round yesterday, O’Neill feels it’s imperative that Celtic’s progression to the group stage takes priority over the chance to bank another two huge transfer fees.
‘Ideally that would be brilliant, that would be really good,’ said the Parkhead boss. ‘We wouldn’t know if the other clubs would want to pursue that, if that was the case.
‘I’m quite sure that anybody starting off in their own particular leagues would want their players in as soon as possible. But, ideally, that would be great.
‘I think that’s one of the things we’ll definitely be looking at. You’d have to take the players’ thoughts into consideration and maybe the other clubs. But overall, for me, selfishly, that would be great.’
Martin O’Neill has stressed that he wants his men focused on Champions League qualification
Celtic’s title defence got off to a winning start with Benjamin Nygren’s second-half header enough to see off Dundee.
Although naturally pleased to get the three points, O’Neill felt the performance fell short of expectations.
‘I didn’t think we played particularly well for most of the game, but we did enough to win,’ he added.
‘We had some really great chances and could maybe have put the game to bed a lot earlier. But, overall, I thought we were a bit rusty.
‘It was a typical first game of the season and I’m hoping we’ll get better for next week.’
Although Kasper Hogh and Camilo Duran made their debuts, Celtic’s lack of incoming transfer activity was manifest in a lacklustre display.
Alistair Johnston played the full 90 minutes as Celtic opened their campaign with a 1-0 win
O’Neill is adamant that he didn’t need to witness such a sticky show to know that new recruits are a priority.
‘Well, I’m hoping that we’ll get some players in,’ he stressed. ‘That’s the aim. We have two and they’re decent players for us but we’re striving to get some more in.
‘I have a good idea of what we need — I should do, I’m the manager. But that wouldn’t have made any difference to the result or performance tonight. I still know what we need.’
O’Neill feels it’s vital that the new additions are in contention to play against LASK when the home leg arrives in a fortnight.
‘I would definitely like that,’ he said. ‘I think the most important thing is obviously getting the players in but also getting them to work with each other.
‘They (LASK) are Austrian champions. So, it will be difficult for us. If that had been our first game tonight, we’d have been in a bit of trouble. But we get the chance to have a look at them, as they will do with us.’
Arne Engels chats with new boy Kasper Hogh at full-time in the season-opening victory
Hogh had a frustrating debut with a string of half chances coming and going without him getting his first goal for his new club. He told Sky Sports: ‘It was so nice to get a debut and I’m happy with the win.
‘We have amazing fans — and I know I have to go to shooting practice!
‘I was just happy to be on the pitch and help the team to win. I have to adapt to the grass. It’s a different thing for me.’
Asked about that remark, with Hogh’s former club Bodo/Glimt playing on an artificial surface, O’Neill said: ‘I don’t want to make any excuses. He knew that we played on grass.
‘I’ll speak to him tonight to see what he thought of the pitch. Because it’s definitely not plastic. But he will do fine. He missed a few chances tonight.’
Dundee boss Steven Pressley said: ‘I asked for a performance full of endeavour and spirit and I thought we got that in abundance.’
