John Kennedy says his comments about Celtic being 'the best side in the country' were taken out of context.
But the interim boss still reckons his team can beat anyone in Scotland on their day.
Speaking ahead of Sunday's Scottish Cup tie with rivals Rangers, Kennedy laid down the gauntlet when he appeared to suggest his team remain the team to beat.
On Friday, Borna Barisic called Kennedy's comments into question.
Pointing to Rangers' runaway title win, the left-back labeled the claim 'disrespectful' and 'a joke.'
And that appeared to have elicited a response from Kennedy, who believes his words are being misinterpreted.
Kennedy said: "My take on it, and I have seen little comments about this in terms of people taking part of the comment and it's careless.
"People go and make a story and a headline out of it taking the comment out of context.
"I was referring to the cup game and on our day we can still be the best performing team in the country because we have that level in us. So that's purely what it is.
"Several times in the last few weeks I have commented on Rangers thoroughly deserving to win the league because they have been the most consistent team.
"They have racked up the most points and been the most consistent with their performances.
"I have shown full respect to Rangers for what they have done.
"I'm entitled to say that on any given day, especially going into a cup tie against Rangers that I fancy us, on our day, to come out on top.
"And some people take a small part of that statement and twist it to suit their narrative. That's careless for me.
"To bring a bit of clarity to that, Rangers deserve to be the champions this season because they have been more consistent than us but come the cup game if we hit top gear and perform well, I fancy us to go and win the game."
