O'Neill praises second half despite 4-1 Europa League loss to Benfica in Lisbon

Celtic manager Martin O'Neill focussed on his side's second-half improvements after their 4-1 Europa League defeat by Benfica in Lisbon on Thursday and said the team can still reach the knockout stages despite a slow start in the competition.

Celtic have lost four of their past five games and every high-stakes match this term — both meetings with Rangers and both European outings — has ended in defeat. By the time their play lifted in Lisbon they were three goals down and effectively out of the contest, hamstrung by early sloppy mistakes. After two games in the Europa League they sit 34th of 36 teams in the competition.

The match unravelled inside the opening quarter of an hour when Dane Murray upended Jhon Duran to concede a penalty inside four minutes. Sebastian Tounekti then allowed Alexander Bah to run past him for Benfica's second, and goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo was beaten too easily as Duran scored the hosts' third.

Celtic's response after the interval included Camilo Duran pulling a goal back and hitting the post as the Scottish champions created more chances, but Vangelis Pavlidis struck Benfica's fourth late on to extinguish any faint hopes of a comeback. Benfica also hit the woodwork twice during the game.

O'Neill offered a full assessment of the match in his post-match comments: "Last thing you want to do is concede so early on," O'Neill said. "We could've capitulated, but I thought the second-half performance was terrific. We created chance after chance. "The second-half performance gives me the determination... I think we can still qualify. We can still do it. "We came roaring back. We could've scored a number of goals. I accept on the break they could have scored themselves, as they did with their fourth goal." Captain Callum McGregor reflected on the first half, saying: "First half we didn't help ourselves," he told TNT Sports. "Unforced errors lead to the second and third goals and you have a mountain to climb. "We know at this level if you don't look after the ball you're going to get punished."

The match exposed Celtic's defensive depth issues in the absence of the injured Cameron Carter-Vickers, with Gianluca Prestianni and Duran troubling the visitors' back four. Forward problems compounded the issue: club record signing Kasper Hogh was hooked at half-time and has now failed to score in 10 of his first 11 outings since joining from Bodo/Glimt in the summer.

Former Celtic midfielder Scott Allan weighed in on the attacking personnel: "If I'm a creative midfield player and I've got Duran and Hogh to pick from, I'm taking Duran every day of the week," he said. "He looks to get off the side of defenders, if you put a ball in the area, he's more likely to be alive to it. "Hogh just isn't firing on all cylinders. I can take that if he's doing the other side of the game a lot better than he is. "You can see why Martin O'Neill made the substitution at half-time and there's no doubt Celtic looked much better going forward."

O'Neill also addressed Camilo Duran's positional future: "[Duran] has played wide at his previous clubs," O'Neill said. "But I personally feel his best position is through the middle. "It's now a matter of us trying to fit him in and I think we can do that. It's a real battle for places now."

O'Neill maintained that qualification remains possible and that the second-half display gives him belief they can still progress in the Europa League, even as Celtic occupy 34th place in the competition standings after two matches.