Celtic captain Darren O'Dea denied the Hoops blew their title hopes on Wednesday night after a 2-1 defeat against Hibernian at Parkhead left them 10 points behind Rangers at the top of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.
Marc-Antoine Fortune headed the home side in to a fifth-minute lead but that was cancelled out before the break by Easter Road striker Anthony Stokes and Hibs substitute Danny Galbraith fired in a dramatic breakaway winner in the dying seconds.
Asked if Celtic had blown their chance of wresting the title back from Ibrox, the Irishman retorted: "No, no. We are very disappointed, there's no doubting that. We need to go on to Saturday (against Hamilton) and win. But we have a game in hand and have Rangers still to play twice so it's not over by any means."
He added: "But it is a big challenge. We are 10 points behind and it's no secret that we have to win games but it's not over."
O'Dea insists the Hoops' dressing room is still firmly behind manager Tony Mowbray.
He said: "Oh yes, that's not even a question. The manager has got ideas and all the players are completely behind him.
"There is no doubting the effort but effort but isn't enough at a club like Celtic and at the moment we are just lacking a little bit."
The Celtic manager ignored one question about him feeling under pressure before insisting the Parkhead club can still catch their Old Firm rivals.
He said: "We have still to play Rangers twice and on the evidence of the first two games against them, it's games that we should be looking forward to.
"How many games have we got to go? There are enough games and enough points.
Ruddy welcomes well stay-
Motherwell goalkeeper John Ruddy is delighted both he and Craig Brown have extended their stays at Fir Park until the summer.
The club announced on Wednesday that Ruddy and Everton team-mate Lukas Jutkiewicz had prolonged their loan deals after having a major influence on Motherwell's season so far. Hours later Brown confirmed he had agreed to make his interim management role a more permanent arrangement, with an 18-month contract a possibility when the former Scotland boss sits down with chairman John Boyle.
"It will be a full season of football and it's something I've wanted for a long while," he said.
"I've had numerous loan spells ranging from a month to three months. I've grown fond of those places as well, with the exception of a couple!
"But because it's been six months you grow a bit fonder and the club have been excellent with me so I was more than happy to stay. The fans have been great with me ever since I joined so hats off to them and hopefully I can keep turning in performances for them."
While the appointment of Brown had no bearing on Ruddy's decision to stay, he is pleased the manager and assistant Archie Knox will continue.
"I think I would have stayed anyway, to be honest," the 23-year-old said.
"But, with the gaffer coming in, he has given a new lease of life to everyone. I think you saw that with the performances the last few games.
"He's a very influential man, he has obviously done great things in this country and down in England so it's fantastic to have a bloke like him around the place.
"You could see it from day one when him and Archie came in, they are two massive characters. The job they have done in the short time they have been here is fantastic so hopefully we can continue with it until the end of the season."
Concerns for injured duo-
Hamilton manager Billy Reid has a couple of injury doubts for their Clydesdale Bank Premier League game against Celtic.
Alex Neil and Mickael Antoine-Curier are slight concerns but will have their fitness assessed.
Joel Thomas - who has rejoined Accies on loan from Colchester - will be in the squad if the paperwork is completed on time.
McGhee hails confidence boost-
Hibernian's win at Celtic was the only disappointment of Mark McGhee's evening after he watched his Aberdeen side demolish Hearts.
The Dons romped to a 3-0 Clydesdale Bank Premier League victory at Tynecastle to keep alive their hopes of snatching a Europa League spot and boss McGhee hailed his side's performance as their best of the season - but the result was soured somewhat by the fact they failed to cut the gap to third place after Hibs stunned Celtic at Parkhead.
"That's a disappointment, not because I'm a Celtic supporter but because I want to catch Hibs," said McGhee, who was nevertheless pleased fourth-placed Dundee United were held to a 3-3 draw by St Johnstone.
"They've dropped two points so we've done some good work.
"We can only win our games and I think this result coming here will give our players and supporters a whole lot of confidence and whole lot of belief that we can now take into the upcoming games."
Hibs remain 12 points clear of Aberdeen, while United are 11 ahead, though McGhee's men have games in hand.
"That's all we can do, chip away at it," he added.
The Dons boss was shocked how easily his side secured victory at Tynecastle, which came courtesy of goals from 16-year-old Fraser Fyvie - the new youngest scorer in SPL history - Darren Mackie and Derek Young.
"You think if you're going to win, it's probably going to be by the odd goal, the way that they play and the fact that we've not been scoring a lot of goals," said McGhee, who insisted there had not been a single "failure" in his team.
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