Martin O’Neill says Tomas Cvancara was ‘pretty down’ after Celtic’s win over Dundee.
Despite the team winning on the day, the striker had an afternoon to forget, putting in something of a disastrous performance.
The 25-year-old – nicknamed ‘Big Tam’ or ‘The Czech with the Neck’ depending on what social media accounts you follow – has scored just once from open play in a Celtic jersey.
Trusted in O’Neill’s starting XI, he was ultimately withdrawn for Kelechi Iheanacho, who ended up scoring the winner.
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Martin O’Neill says Celtic’s Tomas Cvancara ‘needs to score’
The interim boss said of Cvancara: “Yeah, naturally he was pretty down there, even though we had the win. He was down because he needs to score.
“In his mind, he needs to score a goal. Some of the chances that he had today, I think he could have easily had two.
READ MORE: Celtic fans spot brilliant moment between Mark Fotheringham and Kelechi Iheanacho after Dundee win
“And it becomes frustrating, because no matter what you say, centre-forwards are those things. They thrive on scoring goals.
“The confidence is big when you put the ball in the net. And so it’s a frustrating time for him today.”
Then asked if he knows his best Celtic team, O’Neill admitted: “Do you know what? It’s a very good point. I’m not sure I’ve ever known what the best team is.
“We’ve changed things around, just always trying to get some sort of balance. Players coming in, for instance, in the first half, I thought Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was fantastic. Played really well.
“Still trying to get up to speed for the games. And I think the SPFL in many aspects has surprised him at the speed of the game, of what it can be. But he was getting a bit tired.
“Or so I thought, anyway. But I thought his first-half performance was really terrific. Being able to come out of tight situations, being able to thread things through, I thought he did really well.
“In a sense, we have changed things around. And it is. We have a few players we feel are quite similar in many aspects.”
Fellow January signings Junior Adamu and Joel Mvuka weren’t even on the bench in Dundee. World-class basics.
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