O'Neill calls for show of character after Euro calamity

Martin O'Neill has challenged his side to show traditional Celtic "character" against Falkirk in the wake of their shambolic Champions League exit. The play-off capitulation against LASK in Linz - where Celtic had a four-goal cushion after half an hour - has fans in uproar before the return of domestic action on Saturday. "I've known this from my time at this football club, you're always one game away from a crisis, and that's the case," said 74-year-old manager O'Neill. "It's a major disappointment to get knocked out of the competition, particularly carrying a lead and certainly with 60 minutes to go and we are looking in real control of the game. "They've had a couple of skirmishes but we have had the better chances in the game. And to let it slip in the manner in which we did, that is my responsibility. "And so we have to go and and really show, I know it's an overused word, the character. We have to show a lot of character. "And there'll be moments in the game tomorrow, misplaced passes, allowing Falkirk in, shots at goal and maybe even going a goal behind in the game, where the crowd are going to get really restless. Absolutely, so we have to fight that. "But that's been the case even in my days with [Henrik] Larsson and [Neil] Lennon, [Paul] Lambert, it was the case then, so that doesn't change. And you know what? I wouldn't expect it to. We can't live in laurels for the rest of our time. "One of the great highs was us winning the league [last season] and one of the major lows was losing this game the other night. It doesn't get any easier at 74 years of age. In fact, it gets worse."