Celtic manager Martin O'Neill has made it clear that he wants to retain the services of Arne Engels and Alistair Johnston as the club prepares for a critical Champions League play-off round clash against Austrian champions LASK later this month.

The comments follow Celtic's successful start to their Scottish Premiership title defense, securing a 1-0 victory over Dundee FC courtesy of a 52nd-minute strike from Benjamin Nygren. Despite heavy transfer speculation surrounding both players, Engels and Johnston played the full duration of the match at Celtic Park.

Johnston has reportedly been the subject of interest from Everton—a move O'Neill indicated was rejected last week—while Engels has attracted attention from Championship side West Ham. With a "must-win" two-legged tie on the horizon, O'Neill admitted that keeping the duo would be the ideal scenario for the Glasgow giants.

"Would I like to keep them for the play-off? Ideally, that would be brilliant," O'Neill stated. "I'm quite sure that anybody starting off in their own particular league would want their players in as soon as possible. But ideally, that would be great... overall, for me, selfishly, that would be great."

O'Neill also praised the professional approach of the players amidst the noise of the summer window, noting: "Alistair and Arne both said to me that they would want to play in the game if things had not progressed. And I thought they did fine. Alistair has got a very strong mindset anyway."

The match against Dundee also saw the introduction of new summer signings. Club-record arrival Kasper Hogh started up front, proving to be a physical presence with eight touches in the opposition box, while Camilo Duran impressed on the right with five attempted dribbles and high defensive work rate in the final third.

Looking ahead, Celtic will face Kilmarnock before their European venture. While pleased with his current crop, O'Neill indicated that he is still seeking further reinforcements to strengthen the squad. "I'm hoping that we'll get some players in. That's the aim. We have two, and they're decent players for us, but we're striving to get some more in," he added.

The manager confirmed he would be consulting with Michael to finalize further transfer targets in the coming days.