Inside Celtic-Rangers team talk as Parkhead duo take centre stage

O’Neill returned for a third stint as Celtic manager in January and has cajoled his team back into title contention. With two games to go, second-placed Celtic are one point behind Hearts going into the final week of the league campaign,

Celtic trimmed the gap with the long-time leaders thanks to a 3-1 Old Firm derby victory on Sunday. They travel to Motherwell on Wednesday hoping to keep the heat on the Jam Tarts, who host Falkirk on the same night. Celtic and Hearts meet on Sunday at Parkhead, although should Celtic lose and Hearts win on Wednesday, then the trophy will officially reside in Gorgie and render that match a dead rubber.

O’Neill, 74, won three league titles between 2000 and 2005 in his first spell as Celtic manager and American centre-half Trusty believes the Northern Irishman has a galvanising effect on the dressing-room.

“He’s just fantastic,” said Trusty on his manager. “What can you not say about him? As a player he had a fantastic career and then as a manager, as a coach, he’s had a fantastic career as well.

“He’s just that character for us as a team. His first stint when he came here, and then when he came back second time, he just kept us going.”

Trusty was full of praise for O’Neill’s team talk ahead of facing Rangers. “He’s calm but also a little bit aggressive,” continued the centre-half. “He really wants to hound his message. But he has a lot of experience and knows exactly what to say. And we reacted well to it.

“He’s the same every game. Every game is a Champions League game to him. He’s about being in the present, the past is in the past and you can’t think about the future. You have to be in the present. He just tells us what we need to do to win the game and we get ourselves ready to go.”

Celtic defeated Rangers in no small part thanks to a double from forward Daizen Maeda - the second of which was an overhead kick.

“I didn’t know he was going to do that!” exclaimed Trusty. “He’s fantastic, he’s one of the best players I’ve ever played with. I think having a guy like that in your side, defensively and offensively, you definitely want him in your side, for sure.

“When you see someone working their butt off, defensively and offensively, getting into every spot and tracking back, as a number nine making defensive plays in his own box, it only helps the team.”

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