Ki admits shameful Celtic performance in October kickstarted season

Celtic midfielder Ki Sung-yeung has revealed a poor performance by the team back in October motivated the players to get their season back on track.

The Hoops found themselves 3-0 down at half-time to Kilmarnock at Rugby Park before staging a fightback to eventually draw 3-3 and the South Korean international feels it was that showing which brought back the character and resilience of the team.

“The fightback at Rugby Park was definitely the turning point of our season,” Ki told the Daily Record.

“In the first half of that game, we didn’t play very well and it was shameful to be 3-0 down.

“We just weren’t good enough. We had a lot of players coming back from international games in midweek and we were tired.

“That isn’t an excuse but we were also playing Europa League ties and that day we just lacked a little bit of concentration.

“In the dressing room at half time we were disappointed with our performance because we had only been playing at 50 per cent.

“We were a bit afraid at half-time that we wouldn’t be able to chase Rangers.

“Our manager told us that these things happen in the game, but that we must work harder and, if we keep pushing, we will score and if we score one goal, then we can score two or three or more.”

And Ki feels that positive results in Celtic’s final two matches of 2011 – against Killie today and Rangers on the 28th – could help the Glasgow giants push towards the Scottish title.

“We have two massive games coming up and want to finish the year with good results,” he added.

“But we just want to concentrate on beating Kilmarnock because we need those three points to keep the pressure on Rangers.

“The atmosphere at Lennoxtown is fantastic and we know that, if we can win these two games, then we will have a great chance of winning the league.”

 
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