Celtic prioritise two transfers ahead of window closing as Martin O'Neill makes admission on Kieran Tierney

Martin O’Neill says Celtic will aim to act like a Champions League club despite being eliminated from this season’s competition this week.

Celtic lost 5-1 to LASK on Tuesday night and were overpowered 5-4 on aggregate despite at one point having a four-goal lead in the tie. They dropped into the Europa League as a result for the second season in a row.

Missing out on potential revenue of at least £30 million could have a bearing on what transfer business Celtic do before the transfer window closes at 5pm on Thursday. While Celtic have spent more than £25m on the likes of Kasper Hogh, Camilo Duran, Haissem Hassan and Mika Baur, they are expected to add further players to their squad.

Celtic train ahead of Saturday's match against Falkirk. | SNS Group

O’Neill wants to see the club strengthen as if they were competing at the sharp end of European football as they bid to retain their Premiership crown this season.

“I honestly think that that is the club's aim,” said O’Neill. “We've brought in a couple of players that I think will do really fine for us. I'm hoping that there's that opportunity before the transfer deadline to make the squad stronger, to make it better, to make the squad better.

“And to compete in European football, you need that.”

O’Neill identified two areas of the pitch that he believes are a priority. “You would be definitely looking for a left back for Kieran (Tierney), because Kieran's not going to, with the greatest respect, play all the games at the end of the day,” he added.

“You'd need probably need a really strong replacement for Arne Engels, a box-to-box midfield player. We definitely just would need strengthening and that's what we're going to try and do.”