Ahead of the game, O’Neill briefed the press on how his squad was shaping up, with a notable omission being confirmed by the 73-year-old. “The preparations have been absolutely fine,” he said.
“Everybody except Julian Araujo, I think, has travelled with us. We’ll make decisions on the team tomorrow. We’re looking forward to the game, and I think that we’ve got some travelling fans coming here. They’ve spent some money, and therefore, we owe it to them.
“It’s only Julian who has stayed at home. The rest of everybody else has come.”
On potential team selection, with a derby match against Rangers on the horizon, O’Neill continued, “I’ll have a little think about it. We trained this morning, and before we headed here. The lads are in really good form. They’re disappointed with the result behind them. We’ll get on with it from here on in.
“A weakened side? We’ve got very, very decent players here at the football club. All players, I think, in the squad have all played in the first team. Whatever side we put out won’t be a weakened team because the players are capable of playing.
There’s been competition for places since I’ve been here, certainly before Christmas, at that time. Since then, we’ve added Tomas and a few others to the squad.
“So, there’s good competition for places.”