O'Neill under no illusions
Wednesday, 13 August 2003 09:59Martin O'Neill is insisting his side are not good enough to presume victory in tonight's Champions League qualifying game against MTK Hungaria in Budapest.
The Glasgow giants take on the Hungarians in the first leg of the final qualifying round, and the Hoops boss will not be taking anything for granted. It was at this stage last year that Celtic's Champions League dream came to an end at the hands of Swiss side FC Basle. He said: "This is a Champions League qualifier and this game is so important for us - we are not good enough to treat anyone lightly. The side contains some very fine individual players."
However, the Ulsterman will instruct his players to be attack-minded tonight in a bid to secure an all-important away goal. He believes that policy helped Celtic's UEFA Cup campaign last season. Now he is hoping it will win them their place in the lucrative group stages of the Champions League. O'Neill added: We will approach the game with a more secure policy away from home but I also believe the away goal is so important and that was the approach to European games last season.
Meanwhile, Didier Agathe insists he is happy at the club despite claims at the weekend he was set to leave. Martin O'Neill was shocked by quotes attributed to Agathe which suggested he was unhappy with life at the club. But Agathe insists his words were misconstrued in a magazine article.
He told www.celticfc.net: "The whole situation that was reported was totally wrong. I have been here for three years at the club, and I think that most people will know by now that it is not my style to come out with something like that.
"In football you can never know what is ahead of you, people come and go at clubs, but I am happy at Celtic and I never said otherwise."
Filed by Ciaran Walsh
