WILLIE MCSTAY admits that Celtic's dominance at first team level has made his job even harder. The Celtic youth coach, whose under-19 side won the Youth Cup on Wednesday, has brought through a host of youngsters stretching back to Mark Burchill and Colin Healy.

The club's emergence as the dominant force in Scottish football under Martin O'Neill has meant players like Healy and Burchill, togetherwith others such as Stephen Crainey and Jamie Smith, were deemed not good enough. That, in turn, has forced McStay to work harder to rear even brighter talents. "My job has to get harder every year, " he said. "You know how far Celtic's first team has come in the period we've been working here. It's come on leaps and bounds in standard and the expectations are far greater than they ever were.

"As long as we're moving in tandem with that. The [young] players we've got are of a high quality. You can only compare it with your competitors and we're proud of that."

Initial appearances suggest this latest batch could be the most talented to date. David Marshall, John Kennedy and, in particular, Aiden McGeady have set the standard for members of the current under-19s like Jim O'Brien, who scored twice in Wednesday's 2-0 victory over St Mirren in the Youth Cup final.

"Aiden is a pal and hangs about with us at Parkhead when we go for lunch, so we know it can be done, " said O'Brien. "We just have to practice every day and push on. It's great to see him on the pitch and you can say 'That's Aiden, I was just talking to him 10 minutes ago.'

"Everyone was gobsmacked by his performance against AC Milan, but we all said 'if he can do it then hopefully so can we.'

But that's in the long term. In the short term we are just looking to play as often as we can."

The one aspect of the Celtic youth system which has been criticised is the club's spartan Barrowfield training facility.

Plans are in the pipeline for a new complex, but McStay believes the club's all-round system helps compensate.

"I dont think it comes down to bricks and mortar. The one thing we've got is a great advance from the medical and sports science side. We've adapted our training programme as well and every year they're getting slightly better. I'd love to sit in my office watching the boys training, but what we've got is adequate, although we need to add to that and the club know it."