O'Neill hoping for fast Celtic start at Aberdeen
· Yahoo Sports
Martin O'Neill is looking for Celtic to make a fast start at Aberdeen on Wednesday as they aim to narrow Hearts' Scottish Premiership lead.
O'Neill's side were dominated in the first half of their 2-2 draw at Rangers on Sunday, a match that marked the fifth time Celtic have conceded first in their past seven matches.
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A second-half fightback earned them a well-deserved point, meaning they are eight points behind Hearts and two behind Rangers.
"The trip to Ibrox was going to be difficult in itself, but we certainly can't spend 45 minutes on the back foot and not really competing properly," he said.
"And that's against any side, never mind Rangers. So from our viewpoint, we've got to try and get a grip of the game earlier than we're doing.
"The players are obviously very pleased, as we all are, with the fightback. We did brilliantly in the second half. And as I said, not too many teams come from a 2-0 deficit at Ibrox to get something out of the game, which we did.
"Certainly, this is a big game for us tomorrow evening and we have to try and win."
Goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel will be absent again after missing the weekend action at Ibrox, but O'Neill hopes he will have recovered for the Scottish Cup quarter-final tie against Rangers on Sunday.
"Kasper is still not feeling great so I will leave him to recover properly," said the Northern Irishman, who will again be without suspended defender Auston Trusty.
"[Viljami Sinisalo] has done really well in the two games that he's come in. I have been pleased with him. I thought he did fine against Rangers, really fine."