Martin O'Neill has responded to Callum McGregor's midweek comments about Celtic matching his own "ambitions", ahead of their game against Falkirk.
On Thursday, the captain expressed his keenness to remain in Glasgow, so long as those in charge continue to push forward and try to improve the club year-on-year.
Now, when previewing Saturday's match against John McGlynn's side, O'Neill was asked about the skipper's comments, which prompted a lengthy response from the 74-year-old. "So, yeah, I don't know whether it's a twisting of words," he said.
"I think that... First of all, Callum has been, I've said this many times, he's been fantastic here. Fantastic as a captain on the side, and great in the dressing room. More importantly, on the pitch. He's done really well.
"So, I don't know whether it was a tangle of words, I genuinely don't know this here, but I think that, I've mentioned before, I think we want to try and be proactive.
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"Whatever happens, it's a short... It's a very, very short pre-season. You're almost back into it again in regards to what you finish. If you don't finish in the top two, I think you're back weeks.
"But when everybody settles down, you'd want Celtic to be really properly competitive. Really competitive. Because you don't see Hearts going away. You can see Rangers getting stronger. And, yeah, so Celtic have got to be ready for those challenges.
"And if that's the clarion call, well, so be it."
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