O'Neill insists he is 'just as determined' to lead Celtic

Martin O'Neill insisted he remains the man to lead Celtic forward at Parkhead during the ongoing international break and made the comments in a club interview.

The 74-year-old signed a one-year deal to stay at Parkhead after two interim spells last season that ended with a league and Scottish Cup double. Following two defeats by Rangers last month, either side of a 3-1 home defeat by Ferencvaros in the Europa League, O'Neill had said "it might be time to wrap it up" in reference to his managerial career.

Celtic rallied around their legendary boss after those results, with chief executive Michael Nicholson publicly backing the Northern Irishman. Two weeks on, O'Neill has said he still has the drive to continue in the job.

"I am extremely prepared now for it," O'Neill said. "We had a difficult week. That can happen. You can lose to your arch-rivals, you can lose the European game."

He added: "It's certainly not the end of the world as it seemed to be described as. I thought I would take a bit of time, and it didn't take me that much time to think about it."

O'Neill also said: "I want to lead the club, I want to try to win the league and I'm just as determined now than ever before."

"It was a time of reflection for a moment or two, but overall, I'm back, I'm raring to go and the team's ready," he concluded.