CELTIC captain Callum McGregor says that it will take time to iron out the defensive deficiencies in their team, but maintained that the players are committed to Ange Postecoglou’s style after the 4-0 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen.

Celtic missed several clear-cut opportunities and were then punished for lapses at the other end as the Germans ran riot at Celtic Park.

McGregor says the scoreline flattered the visitors though, and that Celtic are on the right path despite the recent run of poor results.

“It’s a very demanding style of football and you need everyone to buy into it and everyone to move and be connected all the time,” McGregor said.

“That takes time for the players to understand where to move and when to move, when to make safe side passes, and in the transition moments we have to defend better. That’s where the issues have been as a team.

“We’ve had loads of the ball in a lot of our games but it’s been in the defensive transition where we have struggled. It’s going to take a bit of time to nail down the specifics of it but everyone is together and everyone believes in what the manager is trying to do.

“In spells of the game we more than held our own against big opposition and that’s got to give us confidence moving forward.

“It was a difficult game against a really high-level opponent. We had some good moments but at this level the game is decided in moments and when you don’t take your chances you are always going to struggle if they put one away on the counter attack and it changes the complexion of the game.

“That was a theme throughout the game. We dominated the ball pretty well. We held our own but in the moments that really matter that’s where we have to be better.

“To be fair to the supporters, they stayed with the team throughout, which you’d expect.

“I want to thank them for staying with the team as much as they did. We knew they had good quality and when they expose you on the counter attack it’s a real problem and that’s what we found.”