Roberts has no sympathy for his fellow sitter misser!
Patrick Roberts says he feels no sympathy for Rangers rival Alfredo Morelos over his shocking miss at Ibrox last month.
The Colombian squandered a glorious opportunity to earn his side a 3-3 Old Firm draw when hitting the post instead of the back of the net after being presented with an open goal near the end of the match.
And for fans of both sides, his failure to convert an opportunity most amateur footballers would back themselves to score was strongly reminiscent of a Roberts blunder in the Scottish Cup semi-final derby two years previously.
Then, to howls of derision, the Celtic winger hammered a rebound from a Leigh Griffiths effort into the side-netting when he had only to pass the ball into the net.
“It is something I try to forget about now. If it happens again, I’ll score it,” said the 21-yearold. “But at the time, it was a huge moment. “This was a massive game, so the thought of what I had just done was quite daunting.
“If we had gone on to win, it might have been different. But, of course, we went on to lose.
“And afterwards, well, I couldn’t get away from it.
“Now I don’t really care about it, but it can be hard because people still remember it now two years later. It’s in the past, and you have to move on and look forward.
“I have had so many highs with Celtic and that – losing the semi-final the way we did – would probably be the only low, apart from getting injured.
“That happens to everyone. You’ve got to take it the way football is. You get on with it, learn from it and get better.”
If those words could be of comfort to Morelos this morning ahead of his first run-out against Celtic since his miss, it is neither Roberts’ intention to console nor inspire his opponent. “Do I have any sympathy for him? No. I can relate to it, but no sympathy.
“We were going there to win, as Rangers were in the semi-final against us.
“They’ll have been delighted I missed, but it happens. As a footballer, you feel a bit of sympathy. But in terms of the game? No, I’m glad we won.”
The Englishman is keen, too, to dismiss the notion the setback will provide Morelos with extra motivation in today’s tie.
“I suppose it fired me up a bit. You want to make amends but you can try too hard and it can go the other way.
“You just have to be mentally focused and concentrate on the game.
“Can it make Morelos more dangerous? Anybody can be dangerous. It’s whether or not we are on our game or not.
“We determine what the team’s like. If we’re right at it, most teams can’t handle us.
“So if we’re on our game, we will have the best chance of winning.
“In terms of my own miss, it is something that is in the past now and you have to move on and look forward.”
Of more interest to Roberts is the potential hay to be made on the wide open spaces of Hampden.
“I enjoy playing there. It’s a big, old pitch,” he said. “You get a lot of space to run in behind and have the ball.
“The league games are tight and a bit hectic, whereas Hampden is big, open and we play good football there. It will be an exciting game on Sunday.
“My favourite game there has to be the Scottish Cup Final that clinched the Treble when Tom (Rogic) scored. I was right behind him so it was nice.”
A starter against Hamilton Accies last week, long-term injury lay-off Roberts is hoping to keep his jersey this afternoon.
“It had been a long time coming. I’d had a few games off the bench to help my match fitness,” he said.
“But it was important to get a start so I can kick on from there.
“From that game on, I’ve felt 100% fit again. I managed 85 minutes, which was the first time I’d done over half a game since October, so it’s good to get that many minutes in and now I feel ready for the run-in to the end of the season.
“It has been frustrating.
“I’d had injuries a few times before. But to be out for three to four months – and having already missed the month before that?
“Well, that’s a quite a length of time to be missing football.”