It was my goal ... the players forgave me but I don’t know if the support will
HEARTS 0 CELTIC 3
“Will the fans forgive me? That’s a question for them. I always try to do my best but I also know that everybody can make a mistake.
“It was bad timing but I have to forget it. I don’t know what fans will do but I love them.”
It was far from ideal preparation for Wednesday night’s Edinburgh derby against Hibs as Celtic eased themselves into the final with three second-half strikes that began with Scott Sinclair’s penalty.
Zlamal regrouped after his calamitous second-half moment to become a one man barrier between a three-goal defeat and something a lot more severe but insists he takes little pleasure from playing his part in a tie that became an exercise in damage limitation.
He said: “I would have hated that, to lose more goals, for the fans. The fans believe in us but Celtic were better than us.
“After the penalty our performance was a little bit down. Every game is penalty kicks when we play but I don’t know if it was or not. It’s a lottery.
“Then of course after the second Celtic dominated. At the second goal Michael Smith touched the ball a little bit but it’s my mistake.
“It was a big opportunity for us. We played in front of 67,000 fans. For me it was the biggest game in my career. We are very disappointed, we thought we had a chance to be in the final.
“It was an unlucky game but we have to forget it because the next match is very important. I hope we win on Wednesday against Hibs and it will be good.”
Hearts’ cause wasn’t helped by the seventh-minute loss of talisman Steven Naismith to a knee injury that left Craig Levein’s side short of on-field leaders.
And shattered Levein last night admitted his fears for the crocked striker. He said: “Steven said he felt something go in his knee and he didn’t know what it was. He’s had a couple of serious operations a while back, so he wasn’t feeling too good about it.
“We need an investigation so once we’ve done that, we’ll find out what the problem is.
“If Brendan Rodgers was to have picked one Hearts player he could have taken off, then I’m sure he’d have picked Steven.
“And if the opposition manager thinks like that about one of your players, generally I’d assume that’s the one he was worried about.”
Issues around Levein’s squad’s health are getting serious. Defenders John Souttar and Christophe Berra and striker Uche Ikpeazu are already long-term casualties.
Naismith’s setback is a nightmare and problems are piling-up ahead of the derby against Hibs and a return against Celtic at Parkhead on Saturday.
He said: “We had Peter Haring struggling with his hernia at half-time. I was hoping to get him off at some point and couldn’t manage it, so he’s struggling now for the next couple of games.
“Clevid Dikamona then got a dead leg towards the end. Once the final whistle went, my main concern is looking to Wednesday and seeing who is available.
“We’ve got a smaller squad than we’ve had previously too, so we need to dust ourselves down and get ready for the derby. That should help us refocus.” did not need a team talk after MacLean’s comment that he hoped Celtic would get pumped in Germany.
“Ryan Christie was the game changer when he came on and surely deserves a regular run out now.” On to the other semi-final now and
said: “Despite so many people predicting, hoping and even praying it would be a Rangers v Hearts League Cup final it seems the natural order has been restored with the top two teams in Scotland set to contest the showpiece.”
said: “The Aberdeen-Rangers game was by far the better of the semi-finals and good luck to the Dons in the final.”
said: “Rangers badly missed the influence of strikers Alfredo Morelos and Kyle Lafferty. Umar Sadiq ran around like a headless chicken.”
said: “What a result and I’m so proud of my team. Go on the Dandy Dons.
“Imagine the goalscoring hero being the son of a former Rangers star. Hopefully the Reds can take the next step and win some more silverware.”
Finally Rangers fan emailed: “Aberdeen should not be entertained if they have the audacity to ask for a 50-50 split for the final.
“They couldn’t even sell out the ‘reduced’ allocation. Why should diehard Celtic fans miss out when under achieving teams like Aberdeen make it to cup finals?” CALL THE HOTLINE TODAY FROM 11 TILL 12 NOON on: 0141 309 3306 or email us: hotline@dailyrecord.co.uk