Celtic suffered a sobering 4-1 Europa League defeat by Benfica last Thursday but responded in fine style on Sunday with a 7-1 win over Hearts

Shaun Maloney does not consider Celtic's thrashing of Hearts to be a "seismic" turning point in their season, as he continues to demand further progress from his squad.

The Hoops endured a chastening 4-1 Europa League defeat to Benfica in Lisbon last Thursday, before bouncing back emphatically on Sunday with a commanding 7-1 victory over the Edinburgh side, who had pushed Celtic all the way to the final day of last season's title race at Parkhead.

The emphatic win was only the second victory in six matches across all competitions for Martin O'Neill's men, lifting them four points above Rangers at the summit of the William Hill Premiership.

With O'Neill attending to a personal matter, Maloney stepped up to face the media ahead of Thursday night's Europa League clash with LaLiga side Celta Vigo, as Celtic seek their first win in the competition at the third attempt.

"No, it didn't feel that seismic, Hearts," said the former Celtic attacker, who confirmed that defender Auston Trusty will be absent due to a private matter, while right-back Alistair Johnston and centre-back Cameron Carter-Vickers have returned to training and could feature in the weekend fixture against Hibernian. Striker Callum Osmand has also recovered from a hamstring problem.

"I know it was a really good performance. Some of the attacking stuff was really good.

"But it doesn't feel like sort of big moment.

"We've got a fair bit to work on and continue to work on so it didn't feel like that for me.

"Maybe the players might have felt differently, but for us it was good, everyone was committed with and without the ball, so that was probably what we took from it as a staff, or coaches, anyway."

Earlier this month, Celtic's ultra supporters' group, the Green Brigade, announced they were pulling out of the home cup ticketing arrangement and would boycott future Europa League matches at Parkhead in opposition to how the club is being run.

Reflecting on the final fixtures of last season and the dramatic encounter against Hearts, when the vast majority of supporters in a packed Celtic Park rallied behind the team's title-clinching comeback, Maloney expressed his desire for a solution to the current impasse.

He commented: "To feel and see how the stadium was in those sort of last few weeks of the last season, when everyone was together, I think all of us, fans, staff, everyone, we were desperate to get that all the time.

"It's really difficult to sort of comment too much on that, but if we could get to that place again then it would be amazing.

"I think we're all desperate to get to a point that we were at in the last two or three weeks of last season.

"And because when the atmosphere and the stadium is like that, it's a difficult place to come and play and it drives the players on.

"So it's a tough time again and hopefully that can get resolved but it'll be more senior people than me that will do that."