John Kenedy is convinced that Celtic’s youth squad can bounce back from the disappointment of losing the opening match of the Next Gen Series to Marseilles.
A sixth minute goal from Bangoura Manan separated the side’s with Celtic unable to find an equaliser against the French champions.
“I thought that we deserved at least a point,” Kennedy claimed. “To lose the match was disappointing but there’s lots of positives to take for the next game with Barcelona.
“In the first half we didn’t play to the standards we expect but the second half was a total turnaround. We dominated and had chances but just couldn’t manage to score.
“The players can take a lot from the game, they can take belief that they can play at this level.”
Les U19 domptent le Celtic Glasgow (1-0) by OMTV_Officiel
Kennedy and fellow coaches Tommy McIntyre, Stevie Frail and Danny McGrain will assess the match again on dvd today before returning to Glasgow tonight.
“Maybe we gave Marseilles too much respect,” Kennedy added. “It’s hard to put your finger on anything in particular but in the second half we were more positive and took the game to them rather than let them set the tempo.
“Immediately after the match the boys were down but they can take a lot from the match and were pushing for an equaliser right till the end.”
CELTIC (4-4-2): Feely; Fraser, Jones, Toshney, Chalmers; F Twardzik, McGregor, Irvine, P Twardzik (Herron 17, Alabi 70); Watt, Williams (Atajic 86)
Subs not used: Thomson, Spence, Kidd, George
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Barca next, piece of cake. Who is the young lad Alabi? Never heard his name before.