Celtic defender Anthony Ralston has said Celtic’s disastrous start to life under new manager Wilfried Nancy has ‘hurt’ the playing staff.

Traditionally a right-back, Nancy’s change of system has seen Ralston adopt a position as a right sided centre-back of a three during Celtic’s worst run of form since 1978.

The reigning champions take on Aberdeen today, and defeat would mean that they equal a record run of defeats since 1953. However, Ralston sees the fixture as a chance to turn things around.

He said in a press conference: “It’s tough to take when you’re used to so much success and winning everything there is to win, to then go through a patch like this, there is no hiding that it’s difficult.

“There’s no hiding that you feel it. That’s just complete honesty. We’re not robots, we’re human beings. I certainly care about it deeply and we all care about it as well.

“We’ve got a squad of players in there that have been hurt by the recent turn of events in terms of results. There’s no question of that and that’s not a secret.

“But at the same time, it’s the God’s honest truth, we are all together as a squad.

“On Sunday, we’ve got another opportunity for every single one of us to leave it out there, both offensively and defensively, to win a game of football.

“That’s what we need to start with. It’s a game at a time to then pick up and I’m sure in the end we’ll be successful.”

These comments come in the wake of midfielder Luke McCowan admitting he ‘can’t face friends or family’ midweek following Celtic’s fourth consecutive loss after a 2-1 defeat to Dundee United at Tannadice, in a match which heard vocal chants for the manager’s sacking, alongside the Parkhead board.

With murmurs of a fresh approach from the Hoops hierarchy towards former boss Ange Postecoglou after the Aussie refused to shut the door on a return, a defeat to Aberdeen today would likely prove to do irreversible damage to Nancy’s chances of getting all of the Celtic faithful behind him.

Ralston says that himself and the rest of the players must adapt, and do so quickly, and insists the new boss has the backing of the squad amid rumours of a dressing room rift.

“The manager’s really enthusiastic and he believes he can turn things around. There’s no reason why not.

“From a personal point of view, I really believe and hope that we can as well. We’ll fight for that to be the case.

“Usually you’ve got a pre-season and longer to work on these things and to really understand when there’s a change of system, to understand your position, to understand where you want certain players to be within the system, both offensively and defensively.

“The gaffer’s had 11 days to work with us even on that. For both us and for the coaching staff, it’s obviously been difficult because you’ve not got that time. We’ve got a game every three days.

“The way I look at that is that you’ve got no choice as a footballer, never mind a Celtic player, to adapt to these situations.

“The boys are really trying their hardest and backing that. That’s what we need to try and continue to do. It’s important that we now start turning things around.

“We just have to listen and try to implement that in the game as quickly as we can. That isn’t easy to do and that’s no secret. Again, like I say, when you’re at a club like Celtic, you have no choice.

“You have to adapt and you have to be successful. That’s the demand on us as players. We need to take that responsibility as well as following the manager’s instructions.”