'We're trying, seriously': Celtic hit back at dissenters as Martin O'Neill puts 'good player' into Hibs mix

A section of the Celtic support threw multi-coloured balls on to the Parkhead pitch just seconds into Thursday’s match against the Germans. The game was suspended for nearly three minutes as stewards and players cleared the surface and O’Neill said afterwards that “anybody who thinks that is a good idea needs their heads examined”.

Stuttgart went on to win the match 4-1 and O’Neill reasoned that the actions took the edge off what is traditionally a challenging venue for foreign teams to play at.

The Celtic hierarchy has been at war with some fan groups all season and while interim chairman Brian Wilson has opened dialogue in an attempt to soothe relations, that move has not appeared to pour cold water on the situation. The interim chairman released a statement on Friday evening hitting out at the protests and said he would not be deterred in his efforts to “end to this debilitating and unnecessary atmosphere of conflict”.

O’Neill is also singing from the same hymn sheet as Wilson. “I genuinely don't know,” said O’Neill on whether progress is being made to build bridges between the two parties. “I know that we're trying, seriously. Brian Wilson has got the club at heart. He's a really good speaker, he's a fair-minded man at the end of it all. We thought that we might have been making a bit of progress. Thursday night might be something separate.

“Again, I don't know. But all I'm saying is that a disruption really doesn't help. It doesn't help because if I'm a Stuttgart player and the game's disrupted for three minutes I’m thinking, ‘Oh, all's not right here’.”

Celtic are currently locked in a three-way title fight with Hearts and Rangers. They are in third place, three points behind Hearts, and O’Neill does not want a repeat display from the stands against Hibs in what is a crucial Premiership match.

“I would hope that, absolutely,” he continued. “Because it could have the same effect. I don't think it does anybody any good, a disruption of a game like that. I cannot stop people shouting whatever they want to shout at the end of the day. But that disrupting the game doesn't help psychologically or in any other aspect.”

Celtic plans for Oxlade-Chamberlain

O’Neill is expected to start midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for the first time since he made a free-transfer move earlier this month. The 32-year-old scored a late winner on his debut against Livingston and also helped inspire a second-half comeback against Kilmarnock - both from the bench. The former Arsenal and Liverpool man has improved his fitness since arriving and could slot in ahead of Paulo Bernardo.

“He's had a week of training now,” said O’Neill. “That will help him immensely. He's a good player so I think he's got every chance of coming into this side on Sunday. He's also a player that can lift these guys as well, in terms of his performance.”

Celtic have only kept one clean sheet in their past eight matches - “Is that right? I wish you hadn't reminded me!” quipped O’Neill - but the 73-year-old accepts that his team needs to tighten up. “If we are conceding, then that means we have to try and score more at the other end,” he said. “As a team, naturally we could do better than we've been doing recently.”

A lot of the spotlight has been turned on goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, who has been suspect for a number of goals recently. O’Neill was reluctant to expand on his plans for the 39-year-old. “This is for another day,” he said when asked if he retained faith in the Dane.