Celtic midfielder Kris Commons has laid the blame for his club’s 0-3 Champions League defeat to Juventus at the feet of Efe Ambrose.

Nigerian international defender Ambrose only arrived back in Scotland hours before the match, after returning from the Super Eagles’ Afcon 2013 triumph.

He had assured Celtic boss Neil Lennon that he was fit enough to play, but made a handful of sloppy errors during the match.

First he gifted Juve their early opener. Then he fluffed Celtic’s best chance to score by heading the ball at straight at Gigi Buffon from a short distance. And finally, he lost possession for Juve to score their third and decisive goal.

While football is a team game, Commons thinks Ambrose should not have told Lennon he was in a good condition to play.

"Look, the manager picked him. The manager pulled him to one side and asked him if he was feeling okay. He said he was feeling brilliant,” Commons fumed.

“If he wasn't feeling okay then he should have said so. If he felt good then he should have put in a better performance."   

Celtic were much better than the 3-0 scoreline in Juve’s favour indicated, but they are likely to find the result impossible to reverse in the second leg in Turin.

And Commons could not hide his disappointment with Ambrose, as he contemplated the plucky Hoops’ impending European exit.

"It was just very sloppy individual mistakes – something you'd probably get away with on a playground, not in the last 16 of the Champions League. There are certain individuals who let the team down,” Commons continued.

"Hopefully this is just a one-off. The back four have made errors which have probably cost us the tie. But it's partly down to them why we're here in the first place. It's just a bitter one to swallow."

Is it fair to blame Ambrose for Celtic's harsh defeat?