Celtic are devastated by 'bad luck'

Celtic crashed out of Europe last night with a 2-1 defeat to Aalborg to leave defender Mark Wilson admitting: "This is probably the worst night of my career."

When Barry Robson put Celtic ahead in the 52nd minute with a diving header it looked as if they might finally get an away win in the group stages of the Champions League after 18 attempts and keep up their hopes for a last-16 place.

But in the 72nd minute Caca drew the Danes level with a drive from 25 yards which deflected off captain Stephen McManus before looping over Artur Boruc. Then after Gary Caldwell put through his own goal, Celtic were denied even the consolation of a UEFA Cup place to look forward to in the new year.

Like most of the Celtic players, Wilson emerged from the dressing room with a haunted look.

The former Scotland Under-21 international, who has won three League titles with Celtic, said: "This is probably the lowest point of my career. It was unbelievable. I can't get my head around how we lost that game. We were stunned, absolutely stunned."

Raised mid-match expectations doubtless contributed to that reaction.

"When we scored it looked like we could have gone on and increased our lead," said Wilson. "We weren't under any pressure, so to lose two goals was hard to take.

"It was a deflection and an own-goal which beat us. It was simply bad luck.

"It does make it even worse that we are not even in the UEFA Cup. But we are still in a bit of shock at the moment."

Robson remains confident the elusive away win will come: "We have strong characters and will keep going."