Oxlade-Chamberlain can be ‘big asset’ – O’Neillpublished at 22:40 GMT 11 February
FT: Celtic 2-1 Livingston
Celtic manager Martin O’Neill starts by telling BBC Scotland about his emotions when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored: “Naturally delighted. I was relieved that that was going to hopefully be the winning goal, scored by a very, very fine player.
“He had a choice of a lot of teams. He’s decided to come up here and help us out. He’s done more than that, he’s got us three points on the board.
“We reached that situation because we missed a lot of chances and their goalkeeper played very well. There must have been four chances before we scored. We needed a second goal because Livingston – who played very well – could get back into the game.
“Of course, they do equalise and we’re pressing and pressing. We didn’t look like we were going to get any reward at all and Alex scores this brilliant goal. When it left his foot, I could see it going in and that was a real delight.
“He’s been a really fine player in his career, an excellent career. It’s just a matter of him getting up to speed and I think that will come. He’s naturally fit and hopefully he will be a big asset to us.
“I think there will be twists and turns in the rest of the season. Hearts are in a very strong position and we’ve been chasing since I’ve come in, first and second time. We kept ourselves in the hunt tonight.”
