Roberts glad he could walk away from wild tackle

Winger ‘thankful’ he wasn’t injured by Halliday’s challenge

Celtic winger Patrick Roberts says he is relieved he did not sustain serious damage after Andy Halliday’s wild lunge.

The on-loan Manchester City player was lucky to escape uninjured after Rangers midfielder Halliday launched himself at his opponent just three minutes into Sunday’s William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden.

Referee Willie Collum showed Halliday mercy by only producing a yellow card but he could have had no complaints had it been red.

And Roberts confessed he was just glad he was able to walk away from the challenge.

Asked if he felt Halliday should have been dismissed, Roberts replied: “Looking back, Scott Brown did (a similar tackle against Ross County last week and was sent off) but I don’t know.

“It was a bad tackle. I’ve seen it back again and it was a terrible tackle. “I’m just thankful I didn’t get hurt.” Having survived that early scare Roberts went on to play a crucial role in the Hoops’ 2-0 win, which booked them a May 27 final with Aberdeen.

It was the 20-year-old’s pass which sent Leigh Griffiths scampering into the box as he won a second-half penalty.

Scott Sinclair tucked away the spotkick to add to Callum McGregor’s 11th-minute opener.

It was a demoralising afternoon for Rangers.

They could have had no arguments if Tom Rogic had found the net in stoppage time rather than slamming the ball off the base of Wes Foderingham’s post, such was the grip the Parkhead men had on proceedings as they chase down the treble.

But the victory had all the more meaning for Roberts 12 months on from losing to the Ibrox club at the same stage of last year’s tournament.

His empty-net miss cost Celtic dear as Rangers went on to win on penalties but Roberts feels he has now had the last laugh.

“There’s always talk in the media (about the gulf between the two sides) but I thought we showed a real domination on Sunday,” he said. “That’s the way we’ve been playing all year, no matter who we’ve been up against.”

Roberts is now just four weeks away from completing his 18-month loan spell from City.

Whether he has what it takes to break into Pep Guardiola’s star-studded line-up remains to be seen, but he preferred to play it coy when quizzed about the possibility of spending another season north of the border.

The England Under-20 international said: “I don’t know what’s happening next year.”

Picture: SNS. Patrick Roberts is fouled by Andy Halliday.