It was a disappointing afternoon for the young Celtic FC B side on Saturday as they returned to league action, suffering a 4-2 defeat to Caledonian Braves.

After fighting back from a goal down to take the lead early in the second half thanks to goals from Lewis Dobbie and Thomas Hatton, the Bhoys ultimately lost out at Alliance Park after a second half comeback from the home side.

Over the past few weeks, the Celts have put in a number of positive performances, going up against European and English opposition.

And after another positive first hour against the Braves, the Hoops appeared to be on their way to league victory.

However, two late goals from set plays ultimately cost Celtic on their travels once more as they played out their final away match of 2023.

Speaking to Celtic TV in the aftermath of the result, B Team coach Stephen McManus said: “It’s inconsistencies from the first half into the second that has cost us. Ultimately, we lost the game and control of it in the second half.

“The reason we made so many changes to the team is because I think that was our 33rd or 34th game of the season so far.

'So it’s a big learning experience this for the boys, particularly with some of the games that we have played.'

“Our last seven games or so have been really top, top games. So we felt it was important to freshen it up, because we can’t ask them to keep constantly going week after week.

“The boys who came in have been training well, and deserve to get a chance with guys like Corey Thomson and Justin Osagie. We get the chance for Sean McArdle to come back in and play too.

“So that was the thinking behind it, and we spoke about it as a staff. But ultimately, we’ve lost far too many games away from home.

“That is the next challenge for us in the next part of the season. We need to become far more dominant away from home and control the game.

After suffering another disappointing defeat, the Bhoys have the ideal opportunity to bounce back instantly as they get set to welcome Gretna to the Excelsior Stadium on Friday evening (December 29).

Following a positive few weeks for the young Hoops, McManus insists that his side will be aiming to round of 2023 with another good performance and result in Airdrie as they look to continue building heading into the New Year.

“Overall, it’s been a positive end to the year,” he explained. “The strides the boys have taken have been terrific.

“The results haven’t been at the level we would have liked them to have been, we know that and understand that.

'But as of late, the performances have been really good. The first thing we look about is the development.'

“But at the same time, at our club it is important that you get used to winning football matches and that is what we need to then do after the turn of the year.

“Especially with our form away from home because last year we played the exact same way. Home or away, it didn’t matter.

“This year, we have just been far too inconsistent and we need to get back to that."

Stephen McManus: We need to improve upon our inconsistencies away from home