Chamberlain was paraded in front of Hoops fans before their Scottish Cup comeback win against Dundee
21:40, 07 Feb 2026
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Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain(Image: SNS Group)
MARTIN O’Neill has revealed Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain could make his Celtic debut against Livingston this midweek.
The Hoops boss was delighted to snap up the former Arsenal and Liverpool hero on a deal until the end of the season – with the option of a further 12 months. O’Neill was also relieved to remain in the Scottish Cup after a last-gasp rescue mission against Dundee as new Bhoy Junior Adamu struck in stoppage time to keep Celts in the competition before Sebastian Tounekti grabbed an extra time winner.
Oxlade-Chamberlain was introduced to the Parkhead crowd before kick-off – and could be in the team to face the Lions on Wednesday. O’Neill said: “He will start training now with us and we will know in a couple of days.
“He's looking in really decent shape, you know, he's not carrying any weight and things like that. And he's raring to go. So I think I said this pre-match, if he shows that hunger that he's had for his career and the determination—and I think that in terms of options, you know, he could have hung around the London area at the end—even if Arsenal were to take him, he could have.
“And so he's decided to come up and throw himself forward here. So that would be great. For Wednesday? I'll have a look at that and see how he does in the next couple of days, but yeah, the sooner he's in a bit of shape the better for us.”
O’Neill was thrilled to keep the Scottish Cup dream alive after a dramatic late burst. He said: “Naturally delighted to be in the hat for the next round. It seemed a long, long way away in the 97th minute.
“I definitely think that we showed a determination to go to the very, very end, try and create something. We had a problem with that there during the course of the game but I was just so pleased with the team.
“I thought they were brilliant. Really, really brilliant to see that through despite the mistakes that we made during the course of the game.”
Adamu secured instant hero status with a sublime backheel finish to get Celtic out of a hole. And O’Neill said: “Yeah, naturally delighted for him and he’ll be delighted for himself because he wants to do well here, as they all do.
Celtic's Junior Adamu celebrates after scoring to make it 1-1 vs Dundee
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Celtic's Junior Adamu celebrates after scoring to make it 1-1 vs Dundee(Image: SNS Group)
“But he in particular was delighted to come, wants to be a part of proceedings and yeah, really pleased for him. It was an ice-cool finish for him. I didn't feel ice-cool myself at that moment, but no, great.
“And naturally, that relief to get the goal and then the momentum carrying on just into the start of extra time kept us going.”
A section of Celtic fans staged a boycott but there was still a sizable turnout at Parkhead – even if the punters did grow frustrated at times. O’Neill said: We kind of knew that there beforehand.
And also, for instance, I don't think that the cup games are in the season tickets. So it's expensive to travel, you know, you're talking about a 5:30pm kick-off on a Saturday evening.
“And for instance, if supporters were traveling from Ireland they would find that really difficult. So yeah, so I was pleased with the crowd, was pleased with the number that did turn up and yeah, and naturally delighted to be in the hat.”
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“Well, I can understand – I do genuinely understand frustration at times when we're trying to be patient but at the same time we're chasing the game.
“Then, you know, we've maybe taken two steps forward and then one going back when you think to yourself, ‘well, let's continue going forward’. And I think that that naturally frustrates the fans.
“So, but it worked out in the end and as you say, they stuck with us and then they showed a lot of strength themselves in the extra time.”