Celtic defender Jeremie Frimpong has admitted they were not at their best against Livingston, with the Scottish Premiership clash ending in a goalless draw.
The Ghanaian enjoyed full-time action as Celtic failed to create enough chances to earn victory, and are now 21 points behind league leaders Rangers.
“It just wasn’t good enough from us,” Frimpong said. “We didn’t get the result we were looking for. We had to win.
“All we can do is keep going now. Of course, we should have had enough out there to produce a better performance. Although there were a lot of players missing, there were enough regulars out there. That’s no excuse.
“The team that’s picked has to go out and perform. But we just didn’t do that.
“I felt confident before the game that we’d produce the performance that would get us the result we needed but it didn’t work out like that. I can’t explain why.
“It’s been strange the past few days without the manager and John Kennedy being around as you work so closely with them.
“They’ve obviously got their messages through to us but obviously it’s just not the same as seeing them in person.
“As a footballer, you’ve got to deal with every situation. It is what it is. There is no point in complaining. It’s happened. We’ve just got to deal with it.
“There’s maybe a slight lack of confidence at the moment. That only comes if you are winning games and it will only return when we do that.”
Celtic will take on Livingston again away from home on Wednesday night, and Frimpong is hoping that a full-strength side can help them back to winning ways.
“It’s a good thing that we’ve got a game on Wednesday,” he said.
“We have to go there and win. It’s that simple.
“We should be helped by a number of players coming back which is a positive. Hopefully, we can win.”