O'Neill says Celtic 'might as well not get any' tickets after Rangers offer 300 for Ibrox tie

Martin O'Neill said Celtic "might as well not get any" tickets after Rangers offered 300 for the sides' League Cup quarter-final at Ibrox next month, and made the comment after Celtic responded to their Champions League exit by beating Falkirk 2-1 in the Premiership.

Rangers confirmed the 300-ticket allocation on Friday, hours after the Scottish FA announced both clubs would be required to play their next Scottish Cup home games behind closed doors. The sanctions followed crowd disorder after Celtic's last season Scottish Cup quarter-final win on penalties at Ibrox, when around 8,000 visiting supporters had been present. That figure was about four times the number of away fans at recent Premiership meetings between the clubs, with different ticketing rules applying for Scottish Cup matches.

"We might as well not get any, if that's the case," said O'Neill. "Just looking at it from a personal viewpoint, it's one of the great fixtures. Even if the teams are not of the standard of, let's say, Paris St-Germain or Real Madrid, it is still a fantastic fixture. "And you honestly don't realise how big it is in European games and in the world. People talk about it as a great game. And the best atmosphere is when the away fans have their allocation. "So, that's a shame. But very obviously, if they're going to give us 300 tickets, I would rather say, 'no'. And we'll give them one."

Celtic secured a 2-1 Premiership win over Falkirk thanks to a Camilo Duran double, although an own goal from Colby Donovan made the final 20 minutes nervy. Fan anger over Celtic's calamitous Champions League play-off exit to LASK was visible at Parkhead on Saturday in a banner reading "World Class Embarrassment", but the overall mood in the ground was more supportive than sour.

"As we got off the bus, the crowd actually cheered us, which was unexpected and something that we probably didn't deserve. I was really pleased," O'Neill said after the match. Midfielder Luke McCowan, who had been criticised on social media for his Linz performance, received an ovation when he came off the bench.

"I thought the fans were good today," former Celtic captain Scott Brown told BBC Scotland. "I liked what they did when McCowan came on. They are the real fans, going to games, not sitting behind keyboards. "It's disrespectful, that. Luke has had to delete his Instagram or Twitter and he shouldn't need to do that. It's part and parcel of football, having a good game and a bad game. "I know he will be hurting, but it takes a strong character to come back and get on with what he does. Luke did well when he came on. He's a huge Celtic fan and always wants to do his best for Celtic."

O'Neill said the Champions League exit had exposed squad deficiencies he wants to address before the transfer deadline on Thursday (17:00 BST). "I'm still really hopeful we can do something [in the transfer market]," he told BBC Scotland post-match. "If we want to defend our title and get something in the Europa League we need a bit more strength in depth. I think that's pretty obvious." He also confirmed Kieran Tierney picked up another injury issue against Falkirk, with the extent of that unclear, and noted the club have no obvious alternative at left-back after Marcelo Saracchi's exit.

Former skipper Brown expects reinforcements and pointed to the loss of Arne Engels. He said Celtic will "bring in another left-back and maybe another centre-half" and added: "I think they need a powerhouse in the middle of the park, especially in Europe. Someone like Engels with his energy and legs. They need that physicality, they missed that against LASK and got bullied all over the park. "They will be out there looking to do their best in the market and will have a few pounds to spend. Martin will be pushing the board as much as he possibly can."

Celtic have until the transfer window closes on Thursday at 17:00 BST to add reinforcements, the deadline O'Neill referenced as he seeks more strength in depth.