Martin O’Neill has admitted Celtic need to “get a move on” in Europe after Thursday night’s 2-1 defeat to Celta Vigo left the Hoops with no points from three Europa League league phase matches.

For a short spell, O’Neill’s side had the crowd behind them and Celta Vigo were starting to leave space. Liam Scales then hit the bar with a header that could have made it 2-0.

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Instead, the game turned.

Javi Rodriguez headed Celta level from a free-kick before scoring again from outside the box after Celtic failed to clear their lines properly.

Speaking to BBC Sport after the match, O’Neill insisted Celtic are still not out of the tournament, but he knows they cannot afford to keep waiting for things to turn.

He said: “I still believe that there are still plenty of points to play for.

“But we need to get a move on.”

Celtic are already playing catch-up after defeats to Ferencvaros, Benfica and Celta Vigo. They now sit near the bottom of the Europa League table, and the margin for error has almost gone before the campaign has properly settled.

O’Neill was also asked if he still believes Celtic can qualify.

He said: “Yeah, I haven’t looked at the table, but I was told roughly that there’s still a lot of points to play for.

“We have to obviously win a game at Celtic Park, and we have to win away from home.

“And I think we’re capable of doing that.”

The frustration from Thursday night is that Celtic had the game in a position where they could have taken their first points of the league phase. Baur’s goal gave them the lead, Scales nearly doubled it, and then the same problems returned.

Once Celta equalised, Celtic lost control too quickly.

O’Neill may still believe there is a route back into the Europa League knockouts, but his own words show the urgency. Celtic need to stop talking about chances left and start taking them.