Paatelainen was furious to lose a goal from a set-piece

Manager Mixu Paatelainen was critical of Kilmarnock's performance against Celtic but thought his side should have taken more than a 1-1 draw.

"Football is a funny game: it's crazy," he told BBC Radio Scotland. "This was probably the worst we have played.

"We didn't pass the ball well. Our starting positions were not right. Yet, we should have won it.

"It's disappointing to lose a set-piece goal after all that hard effort and real togetherness in defending."

The visitors survived under heavy pressure in the first half at Celtic Park and stole into a 53rd-minute lead when Conor Sammon finished off a flowing counter-attack.

However, Killie were denied their first win at Celtic in 55 years when Thomas Rogne popped up with a late headed equaliser.

"We scored a wonderful goal, good break, good finish, but we couldn't hold on," explained the Killie manager.

Despite his dissatisfaction with the overall display from the Rugby Park outfit, Paatelainen was pleased with the graft shown in defence.

"I told the players that was embarrassing," he continued. "We can play a lot better.

"It wasn't there. Our movement, our passing has been better.

"The players were too eager to get on the ball in the wrong areas instead of making sure they caused Celtic problems."

Switching tack, the Finnish manager then chose to praise central defenders Frazer Wright and Manuel Pascali.

"Fraser was fantastic, Pascali was fantastic and the midfielders were helping the full-backs in the wide areas, where Celtic are very strong," added Paatelainen.

"I thought there was a real togetherness when we defended and I think we should have held on."

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version