We’ll bounce back – Ledley

CELTIC midfielder Joe Ledley has backed his side to bounce back after their long winning run came to an end against Aberdeen at Pittodrie on Saturday.

Neil Lennon’s side looked set to record their 21st consecutive win in domestic competition when they took the lead through Anthony Stokes but Celtic debutant Andre Blackman turned the ball past his own goalkeeper when trying to block a Gavin Rae shot to give the Dons a share of the spoils.

It was the first time Celtic had dropped points since a goalless draw against Hibernian on 29 October.

Stand-in skipper Ledley said: “We obviously wanted to continue our form and get the win but it didn’t happen for us against Aberdeen. We know we didn’t perform as well as we can do. The record has gone but there are still trophies to be won.

“It shows just how far we have come as a team that we are disappointed with a point. We have to give credit to Aberdeen as they played some good football. We know we have to bounce back with a win next weekend.”

Celtic were without Ki Sung-yueng, Emilio Izaguirre and Georgios Samaras, who were all late in returning back from international duty, and Ledley agreed with his manager Lennon, who felt the Saturday lunchtime kick-off did not favour them on the back of a busy midweek of international fixtures.

The Welshman added: “The noon kick-off is not the best time to play when you have guys who have been travelling around the world on international duty during the week. That wasn’t the best preparation for the match but we can’t use that as an excuse. We know we didn’t play as well as we can, so we just need to try and respond to this result in the right manner.”