Celtic close to January recruits, says O'Neill
Celtic boss Martin O'Neill has called for patience surrounding January arrivals as the club aims to close the six-point gap between to the current league leader Hearts.
O'Neill, who returned to Celtic at the start of January after Wilfried Nancy's disastrous 33-day tenure, maintained his 100 per cent record in domestic competition on Thursday (AEDT).
Benjamin Nygren's 43rd-minute goal was enough to seal a 1-0 away win over Falkirk, but the way in which it got over the line was a concern.
Only right-back Julian Araujo has joined the Parkhead club on loan so far this month, though O'Neill was not overly concerned about the lack of activity in the transfer window.
"We're making progress on things and certainly by the end of the window we should have some players to supplement this squad," O'Neill said.
"I thought my time was done here, so I wasn't expecting to pick up the pieces and look at the players. Just give us a little bit of time, cut me a little bit of slack and we'll be OK.
"The focus is to try and win some football matches, but the other aspect to it is to add a bit of extra quality to help the players out here.
"I know you're thinking, we're halfway through January now, but I think that we're relatively close."
Celtic made 11 signings in the summer, nine of which were permanent, headlined by Sebastian Tounekti's transfer from Hammarby.
It is believed that a striker or a wide attacker is at the top of Celtic's wishlist, with O'Neill confirming that he is unlikely to have Jota to call on for the rest of the season.
Jota has been out since suffering a serious knee injury against Dundee United last April. It had been hoped he would return in February to help the Hoops in the title run-in.
"Obviously, I'd like to bolster the squad," O'Neill added. "I don't see, for instance, in terms of the long-term injuries, I don't see Jota being back this season.
"I think that Alistair Johnston would probably make a fight back, and he's hoping to be maybe sometime in March, and that would be great if that's the case.
"But the longer-term injuries, I don't see it."
Celtic has already recalled Stephen Welsh from his loan at Motherwell. With Cameron Carter-Vickers still out injured, O'Neill wanted cover for Auston Trusty and Liam Scales.
Welsh has impressed at Fir Park, but the interim Celtic boss insisted it had no choice.
"Number one, he's our player. So that means something," O'Neill said.
"He's having a really great time at Motherwell, and I understand from a playing viewpoint that having got himself up and running, he might not have wanted that disturbed.
"There was a cut-off point where we could take him back and then send him back to Motherwell. That might happen."
