Dumping Hibs will cure cup hangover
Lee intent on recovery mission
OLLY LEE hopes a derby win over Hibs can lift the Betfred Cup semi-final blues that linger after defeat from Celtic.
The Hearts midfielder admits the 3-0 Murrayfield mauling by the Hoops makes the clash with their city rivals a recovery mission for the club and their fans.
Neil Lennon’s men arrive at Tynecastle tomorrow aiming to inflict another dose of pain but Lee insists the tonic of three points and preserving a five-point Premiership lead is now the target.
He said: “It was a shame we couldn’t get a result but we have another big game – hopefully we can go and beat Hibs. If we do that everyone will feel better again.
“The Hibs game is massive now as Sunday was so disappointing. We all enjoyed the build-up and the fans were brilliant.
“We keep bouncing back and we keep proving people wrong but Sunday was a step too far for us.”
Three second-half goals from Celtic were triggered by Ryan Christie winning a penalty after being clipped by Oliver Bozanic and Scott Sinclair then rattled the first from the spot.
Lee said: “The penalty was soft. But he had an opportunity to go down, he took it and got the penalty.
“You need the rub of the green in these games. We felt we were doing well up until then. We didn’t react as well as we could have.
“We should have bounced back better. But it wasn’t to
be. We just needed that first chance. But when they scored the first goal it deflated us.”
Jambos keeper Zdenek Zlamal played a role in Celtic’s second goal when he fumbled a Christie shot that allowed James Forrest an easy task of netting the follow-up.
But Lee is adamant Zlamal is the last man who should carry the can for a loss that could have been more humiliating had the keeper not redeemed himself by excelling in damage limitation.
Lee said: “Zdenek was disappointed and said sorry.
“But he’s saved us so many times this season so he didn’t need to do that. It was a credit to him he took responsibility but it was just unfortunate.
“He pulled off great saves that kept the scoreline respectable. When he apologised we just said ‘it’s fine.’ He didn’t need to say anything but that’s the guy he is.”
Lee believes the semifinal loss will stand them in good stead and added: “The size of our support was ridiculous. I can’t tell you how much the lads appreciated it.
“It was great going out there and seeing 30,000 Hearts fans.
“We’re striving to be involved in these games a lot. There will be a lot more to come.”
We keep proving people wrong but Sunday was a step too far OLLY LEE