Shaun Maloney is now one of the most experienced players within the Celtic dressing room with more years under his belt than any of his team-mates if you count his two separate spells at Parkhead.

Apart from an 18-month sojourn at English Premier League side Aston Villa, the 27-year-old has spent his entire career in the East End of Glasgow.

So you wouldn’t imagine there is a great deal that could surprise him as a player. Think again.

Not the type of man to detach himself from the outside world, the creative forward has been well aware of the adverse reaction to his side’s Europa League exit after their 4-0 defeat to Utrecht.

Maloney knows the score – and he refuses to flinch from pointing the finger of blame at those he reckons should take the rap – but he doesn’t align himself with fans who are putting rookie manager Neil Lennon in the dock.

Instead, he reckons the players are guilty as charged, guilty of failing the boss and guilty of letting down the supporters.

Claims that a lack of experience within the Celtic management team of Lennon, Johan Mjallby, Alan Thompson and Garry Parker was a key factor behind a defeat which ended their involvement in European football this season are given short shrift.

Although the 1-0 win away to Motherwell at the weekend has helped ease the pressure, Maloney is adamant the failings on the European front are down to those who crossed the white line defending a 2-0 first-leg lead.

And he insists the hurt of the Europa League exit has only increased their determination to succeed on the home front.

“The European result did increase the pressure on everyone,” explained Maloney. “Especially the manager which I think was completely unfair. I don’t think you could blame any of the coaching staff whatsoever for that result.

“All the substitutes were used over in Holland, so the 14 of us have to stand up and say we weren’t good enough on the night.

“I don’t think the coaching staff could have done much more to prepare us.

“The feeling immediately after the Utrecht game was one of devastation. It wasn’t just the fact we went out, it was the manner in which we went out that really hurt.

“We were back in the next day and we watched over the 90 minutes again with the coaching staff pointing out mistakes we made.

“As captain, Scott Brown gathered all the players. He made it known we need to pull together and win trophies this season and that is exactly what we are aiming to do.

“As players, you have to use a disappointment like that to bring you all together and everyone is now fully focused on trying to win the title.

“We don’t have the Champions League or Europa League, so that means all our focus is purely on the league and cup competitions.”

With that in mind, Maloney concedes Celtic were under increased pressure to secure all three points at Fir Park over the weekend.

The little attacker won his side a second-half penalty which Irishman Daryl Murphy converted to hand Lennon’s side victory.

“We would have taken the victory at Motherwell any way we could,” explained Maloney. “It was pretty important we won that game.

“I thought we certainly deserved to win I had a good chance right at the start of the game, but didn’t make a good enough connection with the ball and there was also the chance towards the end of the half when I shot wide.

“Having said that, we continued to work hard and thankfully we got there in the end.

“When you are away from home, you have to dig deep and we’ve displayed fighting qualities in our last two league matches away from home with one-goal victories over Caley Thistle and Motherwell.

“In both games, we created a lot of chances and should have won by a bigger margin. But we have still taken maximum points and that is the priority.”

So what does Maloney make of Celtic’s start to the domestic season. “Well, we’ve won our opening three leagues games,” he said.

“And we are yet to concede a goal, so we have got to be pleased at the start we have made to the league campaign.

“For a side with so many new players arriving, it has been great to make a steady start to the league campaign.

“Now we have the international break to work on a few things on the training ground and take things from there.

“But we know what is required and all the players know we have got to keep winning in the league as we don’t have any other distractions.”