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Martin O'Neill's first Celtic interview since hospital stint as he issues health update and transfer priority - Q&A in full The gaffer was back on media duties with Celtic TV for the first time since undergoing a small hospital procedure last week Martin O'Neill has revealed he's on the way to recovery after a health scare forced him to undergo a small procedure in hospital last week. The Celtic boss spoke for the first time after £6million winger Haissem Hassan completed his move from Spanish side Real Oviedo. Celts are also closing in on deals for Paderborn midfielder Mika Baur and a season-long loan swoop for Chelsea kid Landon Emenalo. The Hoops have until tonight to register their squad for next week's crucial Champions League play-off against LASK but can add two more players up until Tuesday. O'Neill was thrilled to land long-term target Hassan and reckons the Double-winners are starting to find their groove after dismantling Kilmarnock 5-1 at the weekend. The veteran gaffer heaped praise on £11m hitman Kasper Hogh for netting a deadly hat-trick at Rugby Park as he looked ahead to Saturday night's Premier Sports Cup clash at Tannadice. Here, Record Sport has transcribed O'Neill's full Q&A with Celtic TV. First of all, how are you feeling? "Better than last week anyway. Yeah, a couple of ailments rolled into one, unfortunately. But I'm getting there, which is good news." I'm sure you were happy when you watched Celtic's performance at Rugby Park? "I thought the team did brilliantly, really well. Opening up, great goal early on as well too, and great for Kasper as well. "He missed a couple of chances in the game against Dundee, but overall you feel as if if you could stay away from serious injury, he would score goals for you. "He's proven that in the Champions League, and it was nice to see as all strikers thriving goals, and that's great for him." How much does it affect the whole team in a positive way when you have a striker there who can be so prolific in front of goal? "Most of last season we were looking as if we were trying to walk it into the net. You know, we didn't have anybody really who had the ability to head the ball. "We have a number of players who can head the ball, but I'm talking about in a centre forward position, you know, things that are in the air that you feel as if you can attack. "And he's certainly shown that. So hopefully we don't have to be as precise as much as anything else, but precision is the name of the game on Sunday. "And it's just nice for the whole team to be able to think that, yeah, listen, you've got a centre forward, maybe can hold the ball up as well too. "Very, very important. I grew up with all of that, of course, and putting the ball in the net is what he's paid to do, and it's a great start for him." What do you see as Haissem Hassan's main attributes, and what can he add to the team? "We've been tracking him in January time. We were hoping that we'd be able to do something. Oviedo, obviously, at the bottom rung of the league were unwilling to let anybody go at that stage, totally understandable. "So it wasn't, I have to say, just like an afterthought for us in the last couple of weeks, far from it. We have been chasing him, a number of players in that sort of position that we feel as if they will add something to us. "And he very, very much fitted the bill. So delighted that he's here and hopefully he'll do well." He seems very, very fast, great with the ball at his feet. He's got a fantastic left foot on him. Again, do you feel he's someone who can add to the quality that we've got? "Of course, yeah, very much so. I think that when he gets to see the surrounds here, I just think he'll glow. I think he will. "People start to think about the number of things that players can't do. And I think you have to stay more in the positive of what players can do. "Going past players now is a sort of a dying art, that's almost unforgivable in football. That's what fans get excited about. And actually, to tell you the truth, so do fellow players. "They think if you can take people on and then cause some sort of havoc, make some goals, maybe score the occasional one as well too. So all of that there adds to the mix. But deep down, I'm delighted we him." It feels like for this window, it's about quality rather than quantity. How important is it for you that when we do buy players, they're first team ready? "Well, that's another good point. I think this is what we've tried to do. There's a number of players who have left the club. There might be one or two might leave between now and the transfer deadline window. "But overall, that's a real balancing act is actually to allow some players to leave the football club that normal circumstances you wouldn't want to. You'd really want to keep them as much as possible. "But obviously, there's the big prizes out there... I'm talking about financial prizes out there. Very, very difficult, more difficult than before, I think. "And then what you're looking for then is to try and keep that quality up, even try and not just emulate it, but surpass it in many aspects with perhaps players who are not costing as much. "That's pretty difficult. But you're right about in terms of quality. Duran, I think perhaps even playing out of position at this moment, I think he's a centre forward or he can play off the centre forward. "So I think we have to be a bit more flexible in our teams as well, too. We should be able to play a number of systems without too much bother. "I know that it's been pretty rigid here for quite a number of years and been successful, which is great. And one doesn't really want to change a great deal. "But I think if you've got two players like that, who are both capable of scoring goals, I think then you have to try and find different ways of performing." The team set a pretty high bar against Kilmarnock. Is that the standard that you think you're going to need to play against Dundee United? "Well, I think there's a couple of things, funny enough, just talking about great football pitches. The players were very complimentary about Kilmarnock's surface, which is great. It's a grass surface. "We play on it early in the season as well, too. So that was terrific. And funnily enough, Tanadice will be a different pitch completely to the one that we played on. "Pitches apart, you talk about setting standards. We did very, very well in the game. Of course, you've got this big match on Saturday and another couple of massive matches in the Champions League. "It's just trying to get people to gel together. Now that you would have to say that both Kasper and Duran are kind of hopefully settling in now as well, too. We might have somebody else in as well, too, by that stage. Who knows? I don't know. And we'll see. "What you're hoping for is that the players can just play football and gel as quickly as possible because these games are coming so quickly now on top of us." To get a positive result in the cup against Dundee United following on from that performance against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park would just put the team in a perfect position going into a huge Champions League qualifier? "Yeah, absolutely. The game on Saturday evening will be difficult for us. We know that Dundee United have played exceptionally well against Rangers, exceptionally well in the game, and buoyed on by a home crowd as well, too, and remembering last season as well, too. "So we've really got to be at it right from the start." How much help does it give you to have that Celtic Park backing in that Champions League play-off first leg against LASK? "Well, terrific, really. I thought Celtic were seeded last season, but had the first game at home. I suppose I probably thought way back if you were seeded, you would have the second game at home, but that doesn't seem to be the case. It just seems to be the luck of the draw. "But regardless, two difficult matches for us against the Austrian champions. It'll be terrific. Honestly, it'll be absolutely terrific. I'm sure the atmosphere will be incredible, really. "But we've got to try and do our best over both games to try and get through, which will be a difficult task for us, but hopefully we'll be ready for it."