What ‘frustrated’ Stuart Kettlewell told his players after Celtic hammered Kilmarnock

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Stuart Kettlewell appeared shell-shocked as Celtic hammered Kilmarnock 4-0 at Parkhead.

Celtic’s win over Kilmarnock was an easy rout in the end after an edgy first half saw the Hoops take just a one goal lead into the break.

However, Celtic looked like a different animal in the final 45 minutes after Martin O’Neill’s Bhoys fired three second-half goals to close the gap to Hearts at the top of the table.

Kettlewell’s side did threaten on the odd occasion in the first half, and as they pressed for the goal to get them back into the game, Celtic picked the Ayrshire side off easily.

Goals from Johnny Kenny, Kieran Tierney, Daizen Maeda and Arne Engels put Kilmarnock to the sword to leave Kettlewell shell-shocked inside Celtic Park.

• READ MORE: Derek McInnes’ bitter ‘if that was Rangers or Celtic’ tears after Hearts drop points at Tynecastle

Kettlewell in awe of Celtic hero Kasper Schmeichel

The Kilmarnock boss praised Celtic goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel as he explained why the Celtic Park defeat was ‘frustrating’ for him and his side.

Kettlewell told BBC Radio Scotland, “First and foremost, all the goals are avoidable. We’ll always say that as managers, when we stand here in front of you after it, but there’s a clear realisation what needs to be done in those given moments.

“You’re playing against real good quality, but I really enjoyed our reaction to the first goal. I thought we showed a bit of spirit. I thought we got some decent opportunities. Excellent save by Schmeichel, we hit the crossbar.

“And as we all know, if you capitalise on these situations sometimes, and that wasn’t for a want for the quality of finish, I actually think the quality of the finish was pretty good, unfortunately, with one, it comes off the crossbar.

“And then they’re playing against the top level goalkeeper that makes a really smart stop.”

Stuart Kettlewell bemoans Kilmarnock’s ‘spiral’ at Celtic Park

As Kilmarnock looked to press and get themselves back into the game, Kettlewell said that it was other parts of the game in Celtic Park that frustrated him and his players.

The Kilmarnock boss continued, “It’s other periods of the game that really started to frustrate me and frustrate the players where, goals three and four in particular, you start to switch off.

“We’ve probably got a little bit in the game at that point. We’re not carving out loads of opportunities at two now, but we’ve just said that to them there.

“We have a little bit of pressure, we’re asking questions. We’ve got set plays, we’ve got a couple of crosses coming into the box.

“You’re pushing to make it 2-1 and that spirals into three and four, the bit that really, really frustrates us, and to be honest with you, piggybacks off the back of what’s been a really poor spell for us between the last international break to this one.”

Celtic now get the chance to recharge the batteries and assess whether or not there are further injury worries after Marcelo Saracchi was taken off in the first half.

With the gap to Hearts now at seven points with a game in hand, the pressure cranks up on the Tynecastle club as Celtic start to get into their groove.