Ronny Deila watched from the stand at Cappielow as Celtic opened their Development League campaign with a 1-1 draw against St Mirren.
Eight of Stevie Frail’s starting XI had featured in the 6-1 defeat from Spurs at the weekend as the hoops set off in defence of the title they clinched on the final day of last season.
Deila was joined by John Kennedy and Danny McGrain as he took his first competitive look at the development side.
It was the younger players that caught the eye with Aidan Nesbitt full of trickery on the right wing while goalscorer Joe Thomson demonstrated his priceless ability to find the net from midfield.
There was a lively opening to the match with both sides keen to push into attack without either keeper being properly tested.
Nesbitt was looking in the mood to trouble the Saints defence showing a mixture of trickery and pace to cause former Celt Mo Yaqub some concern.
Celtic’s first direct attempt at goal came in the 23rd minute but Saints keeper Dan Wilks got down well to hold a low shot from Holmbert Fridjonsson at the second attempt.
A couple of minutes later Marcus Fraser made a great charging run deep into the Saint Mirren half but John Herron’s shot slipped wide of the far post from 15 yards out.
Just past the half hour mark the St Mirren defence had another lucky escape when a Fridjonsson header was cleared off the line after a shot from Herron was blocked.
Seven minutes into the second half St Mirren took the lead when Kieran Doran raced onto a long ball over the Celtic defence, skipped round Fasan and rolled the ball into the net past two retreating defenders.
Just past the hour mark Kieran Tierney replaced the limping Paul McMullan with Joe Thomson taking over from Jamie Lindsay shortly afterwards.
The twin substitutions gave a greater attacking edge to Celtic’s play and it was no surprise when Thomson equalised in the 74th minute, firing home from a tight angle after intercepting a slack back-pass.
Five minutes later Tierney was almost on the score-sheet but the St Mirren keeper blocked well from the substitutes header from a Connor McManus free kick.
It was one way traffic towards the St Mirren goal in the closing stages but the hoops were unable to find a winner although they had to be grateful to Fasan for a fantastic block in stoppage time.
CELTIC: Fasan; Herron, Fraser, Findlay, Waters; Irvine, McManus, Lindsay; Nesbitt, Fridjonsson, McMullan.
SUBS: Hart, Donnelly, Thomson, Tierney, McIlduff, Kelleher, McCart.
ST MIRREN: Wilks; Williams, Yaqub, Hughes, Kelly, Baird, McLear, Cuddihy, Brown, Doran, Mitchell
SUBS: Morgan, Murray, Beattie, Whyte, Williams
