O'Neill cools Celtic's center-back talk: 'Not at the minute'

Martin O'Neill has moved to end talk of Celtic adding a center-back before the Scottish transfer window closes, saying the options already at the club are enough. Asked whether a new defender was being considered before the September 3 deadline, O'Neill replied: "No, not at the minute. Yeah, I am [happy with current options]." With Cameron Carter-Vickers, Auston Trusty, Liam Scales and Dane Murray all on the books, O'Neill explained why he feels more settled in that area. "Big Dane is two years behind because of injuries. I think he's got a lot of potential. Scales and Trusty - yeah. With Carter-Vickers out last year, it was a bit of a problem because Trusty ended up playing on the right-hand side. Now, hopefully we've got a bit of balance." Trusty and Scales formed Celtic's main center-back pairing for much of last season after Carter-Vickers missed most of the campaign with a ruptured Achilles tendon. The 28-year-old has started all four of Celtic's preseason friendlies and is pushing to start Monday's Scottish Premiership opener against Dundee at Parkhead. O'Neill was appointed permanent manager in June after two interim spells last season, having just led Celtic to the title with a final-day win over Hearts. He is preparing for his first full season as Celtic manager since 2004-05 and has so far added strikers Kasper Hogh and Camilo Duran this summer. The club is also working to keep Alistair Johnston and Arne Engels, with Everton and West Ham United showing interest, while trying to fill the gap left by Daizen Maeda's move to Ipswich Town. Celtic has also been linked with Frosinone winger Fares Ghedjemis and Real Oviedo's Haissem Hassan. Yet O'Neill has asked fans for patience, insisting he will only bring in players he believes will improve the squad. "We will get some more players in, there's no question about that," he said. "But I want quality rather than quantity."