'I reminded them they are winners' - Martin O'Neill reveals how he inspired Celtic to get back on track on his big return to the Parkhead dugout

Martin O’Neill revealed that he reminded his Celtic team they are packed full of winners before they got back on track against Falkirk.

In his first match in charge of the club for 20 years having this week replaced Brendan Rodgers, O’Neill presided over a much-improved display which saw the Parkhead team cruise to victory through Johnny Kenny’s double and goals from Benjamin Nygren and Seb Tounekti to close the gap to Hearts to six points.

O’Neill only accepted an offer to take the team on interim basis on Monday and met the squad for the first time in the hotel yesterday afternoon.

Asked what his message to them had been, he replied: ‘I said I know confidence has been a wee bit low, which is the most natural thing in the world if you’re not getting results and they stop doing things.

‘I told them we have a number of winners in the dressing room and that’s really important. The message was we had to win the game.

‘Those lads have experienced lows during the season and fought back. The captain (Callum McGregor) is a real quality player, but there were great performances all round.

‘They overcame my insecurity problems. Naturally, I’m delighted to win.

‘Kasper Schmeichel made a save at 1-0, but we came through and did really well.’

Asked how he felt at taking his place back in the dug-out again. O’Neill added: ‘I jokingly said I’d not been as nervous since I did my 11 plus and I think I passed that when I was 48.

‘I was concerned about the game and the usual thing of not letting myself down but letting others down.

‘I’ve worried about matches since I became a manager, so nothing has changed. Even with (Henrik) Larsson, (Chris) Sutton and (Neil) Lennon, we never treated a game lightly and that’s been me.

‘I know how difficult it is to win a game. If you take your eye off it or think you’re better than you are then things become difficult.

‘To win was most important but the manner we did — I was really pleased.

‘It was the most surreal feeling in the world. You’re in a coffee shop in London on Monday. The coffee was dreadful and I got the call. It was the last thing on earth that I would do another game.

‘Coming in was a bit of a whirlwind and to play in the manner we did I thought was great. The most important thing was winning the game. The players did brilliant and I couldn’t be more pleased.’

Despite seeing his side score four goals, O’Neill was delighted that they fashioned enough chances to get more.

‘You can complicate the game, but it’s quite simple,’ he said. ‘You go back to basics when in possession, do something if you are creative and make something happen.

‘And when you lose you have to be back in as quickly as possible.’

O’Neill revealed that Kieran Tierney is on track to face Rangers on Sunday after being rested last night.

‘He’s feeling better,’ he said. ‘I saw him before the game and he’s much better than he was. He was niggling around. It was a stiffness.’