Reaching the Final

“It was our aim to get a wee run in this competition. We fell at the semi-final stage last year against Hearts. It is nice to go one stage further.

“It gives them an opportunity to win a medal. It is a young group, granted we were topped up with a couple of the first team boys today. The core of the team has done brilliantly to get us to this stage. We have done the last bit to get into the final and have given ourselves an opportunity to win it.

Bruce Anderson

“It is a brilliant return from Bruce, who has scored 10 goals in four games in this competition. He is such a threat in and around the box. I had a pop at him in the second half for not squaring a pass when he should have done!

“That is everything that he is. He is greedy, he wants to score goals. Sometimes you are wary of taking that away from him because when he does get opportunities, more often than not they are in the back of the net.

The Game

“I thought in the first half, as a team we were a little bit more open than we needed to be. From a neutrals point of view, even though it was littered with little mistakes, it made it a more exciting game. At half time we felt that we needed to shut up shop a wee bit and be a bit more rigid within our shape. I thought that we done that really well.

Jack Mackenzie

“I thought Jack Mackenzie was very good.

“When it was right, he kept his shape and when it was right to go into forward areas, he did that. He is doing great in his development. We always knew it would take him a little bit longer with his physicality.

“This year he is blossoming into the player we expected him to be. He just has to keep kicking on with that.

Celtic in the Final

“As a team I felt we let ourselves down last week (losing to Celtic in a friendly.) I felt that we were well prepared. At times I have taken responsibility for that if I have gotten the shape wrong or have not got the shape right. I felt that I had prepared them properly last week.

“Once you lose a goal or two quick goals, you can lose your way a bit. We certainly did that and it was a long afternoon.

“It is a different game. It is a cup final; it is one the boys will be desperate to win. They will want to acquit themselves better than they did last week against Celtic.

“It is brilliant. For our own core group, it is brilliant for them to reach that stage. It is big for them to reach a cup final.”