Lack of fitness didn't cost us, says Mowbray

GLASGOW: Celtic manager Tony Mowbray refused to blame his players' lack of match fitness as the reason his side crashed to a 1-0 defeat against Dynamo Moscow in the first leg of a crucial third round Champions League qualifier at Parkhead on Wednesday.

The 45-year-old former West Bromwich Albion boss watched as his new look side slipped to a narrow defeat in his first competitive game in charge to severely dent Celtic's chances of reaching the lucrative group stages of the competition.

The Hoops looked well off the pace of the game as the Russians, who are half-way through their domestic season, soaked up pressure and were able to break at ease on the counter-attack.