O'NEILL'S TIME OUT TORMENT

Boss wishes he'd had chance to stay on as Celts desperately play catch-up after Nancy nightmare

- BY KEITH JACKSON

MARTIN O'NEILL admits he wishes he'd never been forced to step away from Celtic's title fight to let Wilfried Nancy take the reins.

The veteran boss heads to Tynecastle tomorrow knowing a defeat would see Hearts open up a nine-point gap over the champions.

And that could torpedo his hopes of repairing the damage done by Nancy during the Frenchman's ill-fated short stint in charge.

If they fail at Tynecastle, O'Neill admits Celtic's league defence would be in all manner of trouble heading towards the final stretch - with just 15 games left to claw back the leaders.

It’s why he now regrets having to hand over to Nancy who oversaw a disastrous December.

O'Neill said: "You can't change [what's happened] but in hindsight I maybe wouldn't have minded staying on.

"But that was always going to be the case. When Wilfried was coming in I was to step aside - and I willingly did that.