Liam Scales admits Celtic fans deserve an apology following the 3-1 Premier Sports Cup final defeat by St Mirren which continued Wilfried Nancy’s nightmare start to his Hoops tenure.
A second-half brace from striker Jonah Ayunga, after Celtic midfielder Reo Hatate had cancelled out a second-minute opener from Buddies skipper Marcus Fraser, took the trophy back to Paisley for the first time since 2013.
Nancy became the first Celtic manager to lose his opening two games after defeats to Hearts and Roma this week and the cup final defeat will pile further pressure on the Frenchman and the Celtic hierarchy, who were again subject to anti-board chants throughout the game.
Scales was at a loss as to why the Scottish champions have lost three in a row after winning five on the bounce under the caretaker management team of Martin O’Neill and Shaun Maloney but the Republic of Ireland defender said: “Just obviously really disappointed.
“I think the fans deserve an apology for the performances, and the results last week.
“We know it’s not good enough, and we want to pull together and really adapt and be a better team, and we’re really going work hard to do that.
“But, also need a credit, St Mirren. They deserved that today. They were really good. They were well organised and played well.
“His (manager) message to us is clear. We have just got to go again and keep working on things, and in time, it’ll come.
“I think we all just have to stick together and to get through times like this.
“We have done it before. We’ve had tough times before, and we’ve just stuck together and got through it, and we’ve had good times since.”
Fellow defender Auston Trusty said: “It’s upsetting, obviously, you don’t want to lose.
“It’s opportunity to win the trophy for this club and this organisation, and to not lift it and to lose in that fashion, you don’t want that.
“It’s been a tough week. To lose the past three games, three really big games, doesn’t look good, and we need to stay together and regroup and shift it.
“There’s highs and lows to everything. For all of us in the building and the organisation, there’s highs, there’s lows, that’s just part of the game.
“Obviously, you don’t want to lose three games and don’t want to lose three big games this past week, but there’s highs and lows to everything.”
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