Neil Lennon accused his Celtic players of believing in their own hype after the Hoops' 17-game unbeaten run came to an unlikely end against Motherwell at Fir Park.
The Parkhead side went in to the match still basking in the glory of their 3-0 win over Old Firm rivals Rangers in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League last week but were undone by a John Sutton brace.
"They have had a lot of nice things said about them this week and maybe they were believing in their own publicity," he said.
"By our performance, maybe we underestimated them.
"I didn't sense that in the week but there was a lack of competitiveness about us and quality, we did the opposite to what we have been doing the last couple of months and to be fair to them they have been excellent so I won't be over critical.
"But it was poor. We were poor defensively, poor in midfield and poor going forward. There was nothing positive to take from the game. There was no collectiveness about us, we were disjointed and the goals we lost were appalling.
"You can't give any team cheap goals and expect to win games.
"You can make up excuses for the pitch but it was the same for both sides. We didn't adapt to the conditions and we were second best.
"It's not a criticism I can level at the players very often but Motherwell were hungrier.
"Any time we have had a poor performances we have bounced back pretty well and I am looking for a reaction now in the next nine, 10 games."
Source: PA
