LEWIS Morgan admitted Celtic lost their self-belief after RB Liepzig’s first goal but insisted his team still believe they can qualify out of their group.
Celtic must win when the Germans come to Glasgow, preferably by two goals or more, and hope results elsewhere go their way over what would be the final two games of the campaign - away to Rosenborg and home to Red Bull Salzburg.
Morgan, who made his first start for the club in the Red Bull stadium, insisted there had been enough in the 2-0 defeat to more than suggest the Scottish champions remained in with a chance to finish second, which would keep them in the tournament past Christmas.
But this Celtic team need to stop gifting opponents silly goals, which in this and previous games has seen the players lose confidence and then quickly concede a killer second
Morgan said: “That was my first start and I feel I could have done more. There is that frustration among the boys that if we had a wee bit more self-belief we could have taken more of the game to them, which you did see in that first half an hour.
“We did exactly what the manager asked. We matched up with them and I felt we were in control, so that is something we are going to analyse to make sure we improve.
“Of course we all believe in ourselves. It’s just that the game-plan had been going so well and we can’t allow that goal to affect us. There is belief all through the team, we believed we could get a result, it was more that we did allow their goal to affect us. It took the sting out of us.
“Something that will never waver is the belief that we can beat them in Glasgow and that would give us a chance.
“But that first goal really took the sting out of us. That 15 minute period at the end of the first-half has lost us the game.”
Celtic had been slightly the better team for half an hour until Eboue Kouassi and Dedryck Boyata made errors which led to Liepzig’s opener.
After that, Celtic lost their shape and at 2-0 down after 45 minutes, this less than strong side were up against it.
Morgan said: “One mistake has hurt us and that’s what happens at this level. They are a top side and made the most of an error. But there are positives to take.
"That first half hour was good, we limited their chances in the second-half, we have changed our structure and if we had taken out chances then we would have made it more uncomfortable for them at the end.
“We were close to a goal early on. Odsonne has done really well to get into a good position and his shot goes just wide. We did have chances, we just didn’t take, it’s the small margins which make the difference.
“We can get a result at Celtic Park. We know we can go toe to toe with them.
“It’s a frustrating night but these are games you want to play in, it’s why I wanted to come to Celtic. We have a big European night and then it’s a semi-final on Sunday. This is what we want."
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