Celtic captain Scott Brown revealed his team’s determination to make amends for their Champions League failure ahead of their Europa League opener against Ajax in Amsterdam on Thursday evening.
The Parkhead midfielder declared himself “ashamed” after the Scottish champions were dumped out of the Champions League play-off by Malmo 4-3 on aggregate, following a 2-0 loss in Sweden.
Ronny Deila’s side are under added pressure to get it right in Europe’s second-tier club competition after their 2-1 reverse against Aberdeen at Pittodrie on Saturday saw them leapfrogged at the top of the Scottish Premiership, with Aberdeen now five points clear.
Asked how he felt about the current situation, Brown said: “I’m not angry. It is not anger. I believe we can do a lot better.
“We have let ourselves down recently and we have to just go on and show more willingness to win games and finish teams off.
“We know we can play better. We have to believe in ourselves a lot more.
“We have the players in the dressing room who can do it. We know we are a lot better than what we have produced in the last couple of weeks.
“We need a little bit of luck as well.
“Football is all about little details. I think if we get that one goal and get the second goal and go on, it builds confidence throughout the team and fans and they put trust in you.
“We have a lot to go until we reach where we were last season and hopefully we can reach those heights again.”
Despite the defeat at the weekend, and the Champions League exit, Deila insists his side are in “a good place”.
The Norwegian said: “Everybody was disappointed not to get into the Champions League and it can take a bit of time to get over it.
“But I think we have cleared the air now and can focus on getting forward. We still have so much to look forward to.
“That is how you progress. You have good and bad experiences. You have to move on and learn. That’s what I mean by clearing the air.
“I think we are on our way up. We were disappointed at the weekend, but this is another stage in the season.
“We have six fantastic games to play in the Europa League, and we want to get through the group.”
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