Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Postecoglou blames Celtic’s ‘lack of composure’ for draw
ANGE Postecoglou claimed Celtic lacked composure in front of goal following his side’s 0-0 stalemate against Covid-affected St Mirren in Paisley.
Celtic dominated the cinch Premiership match but could not get the breakthrough and had to settle for a draw, which leaves them six points behind leaders Rangers.
The Parkhead boss, who made six enforced changes to the side that won the Premier Sports Cup final against Hibernian on Sunday, said: “We created enough chances and we dominated the whole game but we lacked some composure and quality in the final third to finish them off.
“It wasn’t a night when everything went right for St Mirren because we did a lot wrong.
“We should have won and if we’d more composure and people had been stronger in their intent, we would have done.”
The former Australia boss was asked about the decision taken earlier in the night that means the cinch Premiership break will start after the Boxing Day fixtures.
The subsequent two rounds of fixtures have been postponed following restrictions on crowd numbers, which were announced by the Scottish Government on Tuesday.
He said: “I am very supportive of our club’s stance. It makes sense to me to use the natural break.”
Buddies boss Jim Goodwin’s squad was stricken by Covid, which cost him 11 players and a request to postpone the match was refused by the SPFL.
Asked if St Mirren had considered forfeiting the game, he said: “Yeah, it was my recommendation to the board that we should just refuse to play. But I think the sanctions and ramifications for the club would have been difficult.”