Martin O’Neill says learning Celtic v Stuttgart his 1,000th game ‘real surprise’

Martin O’Neill insists Celtic will “go for it” against Stuttgart on Thursday night, as he expressed “real surprise” that it was his 1,000th game as a manager.

The 73-year-old Northern Irishman is in his second spell as interim Hoops boss this season after being in charge of the Glasgow club between 2000-2005.

The former boss of Leicester, Aston Villa and the Republic of Ireland, among several others, will reach the landmark figure in the first leg of the Europa League play-off against the Bundesliga outfit at Parkhead.

He said: “It’s a real surprise because I’d never counted the games, genuinely never.

“So when the LMA (League Managers Association) told me yesterday about it, it did come as a big surprise to me.

“It’s nice to do, really pleasing, but I have to thank Celtic, otherwise it wouldn’t have happened.”

Asked if he could continue at Celtic beyond this season, he said: “That’s too far in the future for me, genuinely too far in the future.”

On the task in hand, O’Neill, who guided Celtic to the 2003 UEFA Cup final where they lost to Porto in Seville, said: “This is a major test for us.

“If you’d been having a conversation with me after Midtjylland (3-1 loss), you would have got long odds about being here this evening.

“We went to Feyenoord and got a great result (won 3-1) and fought with 10 men for about 60 minutes in the match against Bologna (2-2).

“I didn’t want those games not to count for something.

“So we’re here, so we might as well give it a go.

“They will be difficult games for us, but while we’re there, just let’s go for it.”

The last time Celtic won a two-legged European tie after Christmas was in 2004 under O’Neill, when they beat Barcelona 1-0 over two legs in their UEFA Cup fourth-round tie.

He said: “A long time ago. I didn’t realise that. I was responsible for some results in those days as a manager, both good and bad.

“But please don’t blame me for the intervening 23 years or whatever it may be. I wasn’t around here.

“But it would be nice if we could do that (get through), it genuinely would be.”

Celtic Park again will be without the Green Brigade, as the club’s ultras-style group remained banned by the board due to “safety incidents”.

However, O’Neill revealed that peace talks between the two parties have made progress.

He said: “A full house here at Celtic Park is something special.

“In every European night that I’ve had in the past, teams, and I’m talking about the really major sides, we’re still very concerned about coming here with the passion, the drive and the noise that’s made.

“I remember our game against Liverpool in that UEFA Cup run. John Robertson, my old friend, was standing beside me and speaking to me.

“I couldn’t hear a word he was saying for the first 10 or 15 minutes; it was so loud.

“So little bits have been lost from that, and that’s regrettable, to use your word.

“I think there has been some discussions which I obviously wasn’t party to, but I think that there’s been some progress made.”