Reflections on Yesterday

First and foremost, a very poignant minute's silence was observed for Liam - well done to the Jags fans for the respect they showed

A deserved, but ultimately stressful victory in the end - collectively, we were excellent for the first 20 minutes, lost a daft goal and then looked very fragile until we got our third. We then had several chances to score a fourth, lost another crazy goal and then would have been heading to Firhill for a replay had it not been for KT's brilliant tackle on Edwards in stoppage time

DeVries - distribution was good, you couldn't say he was actually to blame for either goal but as they only had 2 shots on target, a great save for either of them would not have gone amiss.

Lustig - the big man doesn't do pain well does he? He was ok at times (compared to Jozo) but not the answer.

Simunovic - don't want to see him in a Celtic jersey again. Was directly responsible for both goals. In fact for the second goal, he was doubly reponsible - a poor pass and then he had the chance to rectify matters but was shrugged off by Sammon. Not a one off shocker either - he's been like that for much of the season. Get Hendry in for Zenit.

Ajer - a bad show when our best fit CD is a 19 year old kid, but Kris again impressed with his fine defending and distribution.

Tierney - created the third goal out of nothing and defended well throughout.

Brown - I remember him losing possession once late in the game but, aside from that, he was his usual dominating self. His pass to Sinclair to create the latter's one on one was sublime.

Ntcham - poor first half but earned overall pass marks with a far better second half display, when he sprayed the ball about to far better effect.

Forrest - where would we be without his goals, not only yesterday, but all season? Also, he was always looking to press or drive forward, as appropriate.

Musonda - one or two nice flicks and tricks but no end product. Looks just like a wee boy who stumbled across the wrong dressing room. Obviously far too early to judge him, but he hasn't made the impact we had hoped for.

Sinclair, aside from his assist for Forrest's third, he was again poor. With regard to that aforementioned one on one - last season, he would have buried that

Dembele - when he played and scored against the Jambos, I honestly thought he had his mojo back - I was wrong. Waste of a shirt. Either play him with Edouard supporting him or not at all.

Subs

McGregor - played ok and passed the ball well, but was outmuscled by Erskine in stoppage time and the latter's cross nearly created an equaliser for Edwards.

Edouard - looked bright, but hesitated when he had a shooting opportunity inside the box and a good chance was lost.

Kouassi - BR was thinking of bringing on Tom Rogic, but opted for EK once the Jags had equalised. Didn't get much of the ball, but stupidly dallied and was dispossessed in the build up to the Edwards chance.

Ach well, whether we win 7 nil or 3-2 the important thing was getting through. Good to see Brendan admit that we have to improve our performance levels if we are to retain the trophy.