The Swede was on the mark again in the win against Falkirk but the Hoops got off the hook in an under par display
18:00, 15 Jan 2026Updated 19:40, 15 Jan 2026
Benjamin Nygren admits Celtic were not up to scratch at Falkirk – but the Hoops will need to be perfect keep the title chase on track.
The Swede struck to break Bairns hearts and secure three crucial points on Wednesday night. It was far from a sparkling performance and Nygren admitted Martin O'Neill's men will need to sharpen up if they are to reeling in the Jambos at the top of the table.
He said: “We all know that we need to put in stronger performances to win football games. Wednesday was not good enough. We cannot continue with performances like this, but today we got the win, and we’re very pleased with that.
“We spoke about it before the game – we need to win every game now. That’s how it is. We still play both Hearts and Rangers again, so it’s still in our hands. We will do everything to turn it around.”
Nygren admitted victory at the Falkirk stadium was huge in the shake up at the top of the table with 10-men Hearts maintaining their charge and Rangers hitting top form under Danny Rohl.
He said: “It was massive. In the end, it’s about getting the three points. If you play a great game, you still get three points.
‘We didn’t play our best game, but we got the three points, and that’s the most important thing.
“For sure. I can give Falkirk some credit. They played a good game, but I still think we should have done a better performance. But we didn’t. We still ran a lot of metres and did it pretty good defensively.”
Hoops interim boss Martin O’Neill is desperate to add reinforcements in the transfer window with the side badly needing firepower up top.
Nygren is doing his bit as top scorer and he took his tally to 11 for the campaign with his first half header the other night.
The Sweden star is convinced Celtic already have enough quality to get over the line this term – but he admitted some new additions would be a major boost.
He said: “I think Celtic is a massive club and, for sure, we need that.
I know we have the team to turn it around. But like I said, in a massive club like Celtic, you always need competition—good players to compete with each other.
“I always want to do good individually, but it’s a team sport. The most important thing is for us to win the league and be first in the league. We’re not at the moment, but you need to score goals to win games.
“I’ve always been a player that, from a deeper position, creates chances, scores goals, and makes assists in the last third, so I want to continue like that.”
Celtic are still in the hunt for a Double and Nygren insisted no one at the club will be taking their eyes off the prize in Sunday’s Scottish Cup clash with Auchinleck Talbot.
He said: “No matter what team you play, you always need to be professional. Myself and all of the players, for sure the older ones, have played many of these games. You know it’s their biggest game of the year and they will give more than everything. Even though it’s a semi-professional team, we still have to do a good performance and show how much better we are.”