Strachan dissatisfied with Celtic not sealing a victory at Livingston

Manager Neil Lennon, his assistant John Kennedy, and 13 other players are still in quarantine since they had close contact with Christopher Jullien, who tested positive after returning from Dubai.

Gavin Strachan

, the first-team coach, led

to a 1-1 tie against

last week, and then visited

, who were running on a rich form.

Notwithstanding having great players like Nir Bitton, Shane Duffy, Callum McGregor, Diego Laxalt, and Tom Rogic, Livingston were a challenge.

Celtic are sitting second on the Scottish Premiership table, falling 20 points behind the current title holders

.

Strachan said: “

Obviously the situation isn’t ideal but we still had more than enough that we could display a better performance than we did.

“There was certainly a lack of match fitness of certain players which probably means they are not as sharp as what you would like them to be.

“But again, the big frustration for me is that we didn’t impose our style of play on the game.

“There was a couple of decent performances but probably not so much standout ones.

“The driving force was Callum McGregor. I thought Tom Rogic acquitted himself well today in a completely unfamiliar role as a number nine.

“Tony Ralston came in; he has not really kicked a ball all season. Tony is a very honest and good professional and he gave his all but he tired towards the end.

“It was a tough game; we knew it was going to be. They imposed their way of playing on us more than we did on them.”

He also commented on the title race, saying: “

It is very very difficult. In a normal football season, I would say to you that it’s going to be very, very tough but the way the world is just now you just never know.”

Livingston manager

David Martindale

was disappointed that his side failed to earn the three points. Lennon, Kennedy, and other players will be back from the isolations sooner later than later, getting ready for the clash against West Lothian on Wednesday.

Martindale said: “

We’ve been here and got a draw before but potentially we had a fantastic opportunity to get three points today.

“I’ll try not to dwell on the negatives. We’ve come to Celtic Park and got a point, we’re still unbeaten and we got a clean sheet.

“I need to watch what I’m saying because we play them again on Wednesday – Lenny will use this in his team talk!

“I thought Celtic had some good chances as well and were a wee bit unlucky.

“But on the balance of play and opportunities created, we were more unfortunate not to get three points.

“No one really dominated the game. On reflection, I’m a bit disappointed but not surprised because this was still a very good Celtic team.

“

Hopefully we can make it even more difficult for them on Wednesday.”

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