O'Neill would rather Celtic had no fans at Ibrox than 300

Martin O’Neill says Celtic “might as well not get any” tickets after Rangers offered 300 for the sides’ League Cup quarter-final at Ibrox next month.

Rangers confirmed the allocation on Friday hours after the Scottish FA announced both clubs would have to play their next Scottish Cup home games behind closed doors.

The sanctions followed crowd disorder after Celtic’s win on penalties in last season’s Scottish Cup quarter-final win on penalties at Ibrox, when around 8,000 visiting supporters had been present.

That figure was around four times as many away fans that had attended recent Premiership meetings of Celtic and Rangers, with the ticketing rules different for Scottish Cup games.

“We might as well not get any, if that’s the case,” said O’Neill after Celtic’s 2-1 Premiership win over Falkirk.

“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.”

Fan discontent over Celtic’s calamitous Champions League play-off exit to LASK was writ large at Parkhead on Saturday in a banner bearing the message ‘World Class Embarrassment’, yet the overall mood was more supportive than sour. Much to O’Neill’s surprise.

Celtic got the job done with a Camilo Duran double against Falkirk, although Colby Donovan’s own goal ensured a nervy final 20 minutes. It wasn’t the prettiest of victories, but it was crucial.

“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,” said O’Neill.

Midfielder Luke McCowan, a whipping boy on social media over his performance in Linz, was welcomed off the bench against Falkirk with an ovation.

“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.”

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A fan banner listed Celtic’s qualifying failures of recent years [SNS]

The Champions League exit exposed squad deficiencies O’Neill is eager 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.”

There’s been long-held concern at left-back. Kieran Tierney is influential but struggles to complete games and there is no obvious alternative after Marcelo Saracchi’s exit.

O’Neill confirmed Tierney picked up another injury issue against Falkirk with the extent of that unclear.

Former skipper Brown believes Celtic will “bring in another left-back and maybe another centre-half” and says Arne Engels’ departure to West Ham has left a sizeable gap.

“I think they need a powerhouse in the middle of the park, especially in Europe,” Brown added.

“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.”