DEFEAT NOT A DAMPENER FOR SINCLAIR
Sincy hails brave Hoops for spooking Bayern
SCOTT Sinclair has insisted that Celtic can draw on the positives of last night’s performance against Bayern Munich as the club look to make an impact in the Europa League.
Brendan Rodgers’ side are formally out of the running for a place in the knockout stages of the Champions League after their bitter- sweet 2-1 loss to Bayern Munich last night but securing third spot in Group B remains viable. Sinclair said: “It just goes to show where we are going. When we scored I actually thought we were going to go on and win the game.
“We went toe-to-toe with one of the great European names and I think that it says so much that we thought we ought to have taken something from the game. There was silence
in the changing room after the game. We were all just sitting there, head in our hands, feeling that we let it go through our fingers a little bit.
“But if that shows anything it is that we have created a winning mentality here, no matter who we play.
“Against PSG and Barcelona we came off the pitch and it was a different feeling. We came off that pitch last night thinking that we should have got a result.
“We still want to try to secure some kind of European football after Christmas and if we can do that then we will feel that we have made progress. And if we can replicate that kind of performance then we have to feel that we can be a match for anyone here at Celtic Park.”
James Forrest put in arguably the best shift of his Celtic career against Bayern and was the catalyst for much of Celtic’s forward movement.
“I thought James was outstanding but it is no surprise to me,” said Sinclair. “We see the work he puts in every day and know just how good a player he is.
“There was a lot of disappointment when Patrick got injured at the weekend but you see what James has got. It is brilliant for the club to have that competition.”
The biggest disappointment for Celtic was the meekness with which they conceded, particularly an opening goal that would have had Rodgers wincing on the sidelines.
“Yeah, that was disappointing,” said Sinclair. But I think what we have to focus on is the way we didn’t let out heads go down after that.
“We stuck to it and we always felt as though we had a goal in us.
“In the immediate aftermath of a game it is hard to take the positives when you lose but I do think we can take a lot of that performance with us as we go forward.
“It is always about the next game for us. It is why we are in the position that we are. That is what we have to take over the next few days, that we are capable of going out and performing that way.
“We are making progress and getting better.”