Celtic FC B coach Darren O’Dea was left proud of his squad's performance as they fought back to seal a late point in their 1-1 draw with Lazio.

After opening up their UEFA Youth League campaign with a loss to Feyenoord, the Hoops' next European opponents travelled to The City Stadium for the first home match.

With both sides eyeing up their first point in this season’s group stages, it proved to be an entertaining matchup between the two teams in Mount Florida.

The Celts more than held their own throughout the 90 minutes of action, but saw themselves fall behind just before the break.

However, after a strong second-half display, the Bhoys earned a point as Mackenzie Carse’s stoppage time penalty sealed a 1-1 draw.

Speaking to Celtic TV after the match, O’Dea expressed the pride he had following the performance of his players, insisting that they deserved to take something from the match.

He said: “I was absolutely delighted with the performance, both me and Stephen (McManus) are. Just in every aspect of it.

“I thought in the first half, we knew it was going to be a game where the ball was king. It was going to be difficult when you didn’t have it.

“So it was really important when you did have the ball to keep it. There were also times out of possession where I thought we were really disciplined and limited Lazio to very little chances.

'When we were in possession, we were really, really good. We created a number of opportunities.'

“What we have seen at this level countless times now is that small moments or errors get punished kind of either way.

“In the first half, a small error on our part allows them to get on top, but the reaction from the players is all we can ask for and probably wobbled us for five minutes.

“After that they just reset, and had the courage in the second half to go and take the performance on to another level was fantastic.

“From minute one to the end of the game, it was a brilliant game of football. Lazio are a top side, no doubt about it.

'But we were every bit as good as them, and I’d argue better for large spells of the game.'

“So the point was the least we deserved, and I’m so, so proud of every single one of them. Whether that be the ones on the bench or those who didn’t come on too.

“You can’t put performances in like that unless you’ve got a strong group.”

The opening fixture in Feyenoord proved to be a difficult one for much of the young Celtic squad, with many players getting their first taste of European action at this level.

Darren O’Dea: We were so proud with the level of performance against Lazio