Celtic captain Stephen McManus has said it is too early to talk about who will win the league this season, despite his side regaining top spot with a 2-1 win at Hamilton on Sunday. Goals from Shaun Maloney and Scott McDonald had given Celtic the lead in the SPL match but a strike by Mickael Antoine-Curier had the visitors clinging on in the final minutes.
“We went to Hamilton to try and win the game which we did do which is great," the Celtic skipper said.
"We look to improve but overall we deserved the victory.
"It is early days and as the manager said you can't win anything at this stage. It would be great to stay at the top of the league for the rest of the season but we know it's going to be tough and Rangers will be thinking the exact same as us.”
McManus revealed that clear-the-air talks ahead of the game had left the Celtic players knowing exactly what was expected of them. Tony Mowbray’s side have been heavily criticised for their form in recent weeks, with a 1-0 defeat to Hamburg in the Europa League the latest setback in a difficult start to life at Parkhead for the ex-West Brom manager.
"We had a good meeting yesterday and it stays between the lads and the coaching staff," said McManus.
"Time will tell if it has been beneficial. Over the course of the season you have chats as a group and that's what happened.
"Communication is a big factor in any line of work but one thing we are looking to do as players, manager and coaching staff is to drive the club forward."
Celtic face another testing week with a home Co-operative Cup tie against Hearts on Wednesday followed by the visit of Kilmarnock and in-form Kevin Kyle. With Andreas Hinkel and Danny Fox back from injury, and summer signing Marc-Antoine Fortune close to a return, Mowbray has almost his full squad available but McManus still struck a cautious tone when talking about any progress.
"We won the game so it's an improvement.
"But we are not going to kid ourselves on as a team. As individuals we need to get better. The manager has his ideas which we take on board.
"The most important thing is that everyone in the dressing room, the manager and the players, are all going in the right direction and that's what we want.
"It's as important that everyone rallies around."
