Strachan: 'Celtic can bounce back'

Updated 10.32 Wed Sep 19 2007

Keywords: Gordon Strachan, Celtic, Shakhtar Donetsk, Champions League, football, sport

Gordon Strachan is upbeat about Celtic's chances of reaching the knockout stages of the Champions League despite their 2-0 Group D defeat at Shakhtar Donetsk.

A strike apiece from Brandao and Cristiano Lucarelli in the first eight minutes at the Olympiyskiy Stadium put the game beyond the Scottish champions.

"We can still bounce back from this - we did it last season" - Gordon Strachan

Celtic have yet to win away from Parkhead in the Champions League and with clashes to come against reigning European champions AC Milan and Benfica, Strachan is refusing to lose heart.

The Bhoys boss, whose men entertain Milan in Glasgow in a fortnight's time, said: "We can still bounce back from this - we did it last season.

"The defeat doesn't make it any easier but we lost our first game last season and we had qualified before the last game had been played.

"There is no way I am criticising the players, I am proud of the way they performed this season."