Celtic manager Neil Lennon vowed to ring the changes after criticising his team’s character in the second half of their 3-2 defeat by Ross County.
Celtic were two up inside 21 minutes in Dingwall after County goalkeeper Michael Fraser let in soft goals from Charlie Mulgrew, direct from a corner, and Gary Hooper’s chip towards the back post.
But County immediately fought back and were level 15 minutes later thanks to Grant Munro’s wonderful volley and Sam Morrow’s close-range finish after Celtic had failed to clear an Iain Vigurs cross.
Fraser saved well from Miku in between Celtic’s goals and Anthony Stokes missed a good chance with the last kick of the first half, and County then had an escape when Fraser parried Hooper’s shot against Mihael Kovacevic and off the crossbar.
But County finished the stronger team and Steffen Wohlfarth had already missed a good chance before heading home in injury time after centre-back Kelvin Wilson and goalkeeper Fraser Forster both left Evangelos Ikonomou’s hopeful long ball to each other.
Victor Wanyama, Emilio Izaguirre, Adam Matthews and Georgios Samaras had all picked up injuries in Wednesday’s Champions League defeat by Juventus in Turin while James Forrest was also absent, but Lennon admitted there was no excuse for his team’s capitulation.
Lennon, whose side remain 15 points clear despite consecutive Clydesdale Bank Premier League defeats, said: “I knew it was going to be tough when we came here looking at the pitch and conditions. But we started brightly and you have got to take your chances.
“It should have been 4-2 at half-time, we had clear-cut chances, which on a pitch like this is difficult to do. And the game became a fight in the second half, which you expect it to.
“We lacked men in some areas. And I’m going to have to get some men in.”
Lennon, whose team host Aberdeen on Saturday, added: “I’ll make changes. I will hopefully have Samaras and Izaguirre back next week, we will see how Victor is.
“It gives us a week to recuperate. We have had a long week. We had a four-hour drive on Friday after coming back from Italy on Thursday.
“So there were mitigating circumstances for a bit of lethargy but what you can’t lack is character and I thought we lacked that in a lot of departments.
“I’m pretty angry about that and we will have to get back on track,” he added.
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