Celtic were beaten 2-1 by Celta Vigo on Thursday night, making it three Europa League defeats out of three for the Scottish champions

Martin O'Neill has dismissed suggestions that Celtic's confidence will have taken any "real serious damage" following their defeat to Celta Vigo, as the club prepares to face Hibernian on Sunday.

Thursday evening's 2-1 reverse against the Spanish side marked a third consecutive Europa League loss for the Scottish champions, leaving them languishing in 35th position out of 36 clubs in the league standings.

Seven days after their emphatic 7-1 thrashing of Hearts, Celtic return to William Hill Premiership action at Easter Road, with manager O'Neill commenting: "We have to recover and we'll try and get ourselves physically right for the game, which is the most important thing.

"Psychologically, I don't think Thursday will do us real serious damage. One never knows.

"But it's a tough schedule for us, the last week has been tough travelling to Portugal (lost 4-1 to Benfica).

"But listen, no excuses. We are what we are and we have to try and win so Sunday becomes a big game for us.

"We have to try and fight back and try and win on Sunday if we can."

Defender Liam Scales has stressed the importance of moving past "the pain" of the Celta setback ahead of the Hibs encounter.

"You can't be holding on to kind of pain from games for too long," he said.

"We know that, we've been playing long enough.

"You need to bounce back and be ready for the next game and I felt like that was the case last weekend (after Benfica) and hopefully we can do the exact same this weekend.

"We want to stay top of the league."

Hibernian sit at the foot of the table and are searching for their first victory under Marink Reedijk following consecutive defeats to Dundee United and Falkirk in the Dutchman's opening two fixtures since replacing David Gray.

The Edinburgh club face a demanding period ahead, beginning with Celtic's arrival before a midweek journey to St Mirren on Wednesday, culminating in a Premier Sports Cup semi-final derby clash with Hearts next Sunday.

When questioned whether recent training sessions and match performances had convinced him his squad possesses the necessary quality for such a demanding schedule, the former Beveren manager responded firmly: "Of course, yes. Otherwise we call the opponents and we say we don't go there.

"I see players here who want it, who have the right intention, who work their socks off and make sure that they are ready as best as they can for these matches.

"I see progress in training. I also saw, like I said before, progress in the matches, so, no, I have no doubt that we are ready for these three fixtures to come.

"It's also a nice opportunity to show yourself again and again and again. That's important for me so that we are coming out of these matches in a good way from a physical standpoint and that we make sure that everybody can do all three matches and be the best of themselves in those three matches."