Neil Lennon warned his Celtic players to ignore the prospect of Champions League glory for now to concentrate on domestic duties.
A 1-0 home defeat by Inverness on Saturday has seen the Hoops dropping 17 points from 14 Premier League games, only four less than they did in the whole of last season.
One theory for their lacklustre display is that the Parkhead players are thinking too much about the Champions League Group G decider with Spartak Moscow on December 5th.
However, Lennon, who threatened to quit following an altercation with angry fans during the game, in which Billy McKay grabbed a second-half winner for the visitors, said: “ I’m fed up talking about Champions League games when we are playing domestic games.
“I know it’s all new to them, and I know there is a big game looming on the horizon. But I can’t accept players thinking that way, because they won’t play.
“They can’t waste games, they can’t think of other games when they’re playing against decent SPL teams, which Inverness are.”
Skipper Scott Brown revealed he will delay surgery on an ongoing hip problem in order to play against Spartak in a game that promises a place in the last 16 of the competition for Celtic if they get a better result than Benfica manage in Barcelona.
Aberdeen moved into second in the league thanks to with a 1-0 away victory over Hibernian.
