CELTS SET UP GERS SEMI
OLD FIRM CUP CLASH
BRENDAN RODGERS insists Championship basement boys St Mirren are the best side Celtic have faced in Scotland this season.
And the Hoops boss praised his players for refusing to panic after fighting back against the battling Buddies to keep their Treble dream alive.
Jack Ross’ side are currently propping up the second tier but Rodgers put them above Aberdeen and Old Firm rivals Rangers in terms of tough domestic opponents.
On-loan Crewe defender Harry Davis fired St Mirren into a shock lead in yesterday’s Scottish Cup quarter-final clash at Parkhead.
Celtic then survived a major scare when Moussa Dembele fired against his own bar
before goals from Mikael Lustig, Scott Sinclair, Dembele and sub Leigh Griffiths eventually eased them into the last four.
The 4-1 win made it 34 games unbeaten for the runaway champions and Rodgers is now just 180 minutes from the club’s first clean sweep in 16 years in his first season in charge.
The Northern Irishman said: “Without a shadow of a doubt, St Mirren are the best team we have played domestically including Premiership teams.
“They would hold their own in the Premiership. Jack has done an excellent job in a short period of time. They have good organisation and are well coached. I don’t know how they’re bottom of their league.
“They have a good idea of the game, have composure, mobility and speed in the team. They play football and St Mirren have been our biggest threat domestically this season for sure.
“We played Alloa at Celtic Park when Jack was manager, so I had an idea of his coaching ability.
“He has gone in there, had them well organised and there are moments in games that make you think about the level of coaching.
“Certain things happen that make you think, ‘Oh, okay.’ It’s little details that can define coaches.
“They have good speed, they have young players with enthusiasm and energy. Today showed how difficult it is to win a game of football. Forget the Treble, it’s about a game. It shows if you fall below and don’t have the characteristics in your squad to turn it up and go again it can be difficult.
“But let’s be clear. We ended the game well. It was 4-1 and could have been 6-1 or more. It was a great performance in the second half. Give a huge amount of credit to our players.
“We weren’t so good in the first half – we were below our tempo but stayed calm and in the second half we upped the tempo a bit and that allowed us to create more chances.”
Asked if he was worried when Saints hit the bar while leading 1-0, Rodgers said: “We switched off for their goal and in the second half we were rash.
“When the ball is whipped in there is no real danger and all of a sudden Moussa has a swing at it and it goes onto the bar.
“It can go either way but it fell for us and we were then able to go and take control of the game.”
Sinclair netted his 18th goal of the campaign and Rodgers said: “Scotty is a remarkable player. He will get 20 goals. For a winger to get that number added to the assists he’s had, he’s a real catalyst for the team.”
Rodgers expects keeper Craig Gordon to sign his contract extension this week to keep him at the club until 2020 and added: “It’s just a case of the formalities and signing the paperwork.”