A makeshift Celtic side lost 1-0 to Inverness Caley Thistle.
An own goal from Eoghan O’Connell midway through the second half separated the side’s as Inverness strengthened their position at the top of the table.
Ronny Deila made ten changes to the Celtic side that drew 1-1 in Maribor, Charlie Mulgrew was the only survivor, and struggled to create many clear cut chances.
None of the players brought in helped their case for a regular first team place with only Nir Bitton, in patches, looking capable of starting Tuesday’s return match with Maribor.
There was a lively start to the match with Thistle taking advantage of the changes in the Celtic side with Greg Tansey firing in two long range efforts that were just off target.
Celtic were struggling to put any sort of move together but in the 11th minute Leigh Griffiths shot into the side netting from 18 yards out.
In the twentieth minute Efe Ambrose almost opened the scoring with a spectacular shot following a Liam Henderson free kick that Dean Brill pushed over the crossbar.
Ten minutes from the interval Nir Bitton created space for himself 20 yards from goal but his right foot shot struck the crossbar with Brill rooted to his goal-line.
Stefan Johansen and Callum McGregor replaced Filip Twardzik and Teemu Pukki at the break with Johansen taking up the unusual role of left-back.
McGregor made an instant impact with two purposeful runs down the right with the second ending with him being chopped in the box but Bobby Madden made an honest mistake waving play on.
After a brief flurry, largely sparked by McGregor, the hoops lost the initiative with no one showing the responsibility needed to break down the home defence.
Against the run of play the home side took the lead in the 65th minute as Bitton received treatment for an injury. A cross from the left caught Lucasz Zaluska flapping at the ball which broke off Eoghan O’Connell into the net.
Anthony Stokes replaced Griffiths after the goal with Dylan McGeouch moving to left-back with Johansen pushing into midfield.
The substitution initially brought some extra purpose to Celtic’s play but the home defence held out without too much difficulty to maintain their 100% record
CELTIC: Zaluska; Ambrose, O’Connell, Mulgrew, Twardzik (Johansen 46); Henderson, Bitton, McGeouch; Griffiths (Stokes 67), Commons, Pukki (McGregor)
SUBS: Fasan, Berget, Denayer, Kayal
