Michael Weir: Hibs showed Celtic too much respect – we missed Rayn Gauld but Stephane Omeonga impressed

Stephane Omeonga had a spark to his play

At home in front of our own support in a one-off match I’d have expected us to have a right go, particularly as Easter Road hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for Celtic over the past couple of seasons.

Yes, we looked well organised but it seemed as if we were set up to play a containing game, sitting in and hoping for the best. I just thought we showed Celtic too much respect, we never got in among them and allowed them too much time on the ball.

We never put Celtic under any real pressure, didn’t take any risks and never really worked Scott Bain their goalkeeper and once they got their noses in front you saw we were going to struggle to get back in to the game.

Celtic did play well and scored two stunning goals through James Forrest and Scott Brown but we made it too easy for them.

We were also poor in possession, especially in the second half. I’m sure Paul Heckingbottom will have learned a lot from his first game against one of the Old Firm - and he’ll do so again on Friday night when he comes up against the other half, Rangers.

One player who did catch my eye was Stephane Omeonga. He looked to have a bit of spark, someone capable of doing something a bit different but the absence of Ryan Gauld in that playmaker role was obvious.

Our entire focus is now on holding on to our place in the top six and, hopefully, improving on our current position and, to that end, Paul couldn’t have done any better than win his first three league matches.

Friday night will be another tough match, and playing the top two teams in the country in the space of a week will let Paul see how far we have to go before we can get close to these sides.

The games are coming thick and fast and we need to get as many points as we can.