Important lesson to be learned as Darren O’Dea asks for improvement from Celtic B stars

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Celtic B coach Darren O’Dea wants his side to find a way to perform in tougher conditions.

The Hoops went down to a second Lowland League defeat of the season on Saturday afternoon, losing 3-1 to Edinburgh-based Civil Service Strollers.

It doesn’t seem like there were many positives to take away for the young Celts despite Rocco Vata netting during the second-half.

The team have now played five league matches this season, winning two, drawing one and losing two. Both of the defeats have come on the road while 12 goals have been scored across three home games.

It’s a disparity that O’Dea wants to rectify, and he’s asked his young side for a bit more grit on the road.

“It’s a really young group of players, so you are going to get ups and down,” he said, as quoted on the Celtic website.

“They have experienced a couple of really good performances recently at home, where the conditions are in favour of us.

“Now when you come away from home, you need to be able to handle that. The conditions sometimes aren’t perfect.

“Today, the pitch is a wee bit sticky but it will be ten times worse the later in the year we go and when the weather gets bad. So that is when you need a bit more grit and being able to see out certain things.

“Next weekend’s match will be another tough test, and we will hopefully be better because we will have had a week to reflect and train hard.”

The team will have a couple of chances to rectify their ropey away form over the next ten days.

Next Saturday, it’s a trip south of the border to face former SPFL side Berwick Rangers. Their Shielfield Park home is likely to be the kind of testing venue O’Dea is talking about so it will be interesting to see how the Hoops react.

After that, we’re up against East Kilbride on the plastic pitch at K Park. That should be another good test for the side.

The B team is all about learning and developing. The results never will be the be-all and end-all, but they are a reflection of doing things right and wrong.

Let’s hope we see some improvement in the coming weeks.

In other news, Celtic loan pair make Saturday debuts as big Odsonne Edouard moment arrives