Ange Postecoglou urges Celtic players to use Hampden hurt to fuel Scottish Premiership title charge

Ange Postecoglou says Celtic must use their Hampden heartache to fuel a charge towards the Premiership title.

The Parkhead manager was left deflated after his team’s Scottish Cup semi-final sickener.

Postecoglou’s men were heading into the Final after taking the lead through Greg Taylor’s strike just after the hour.

However, the Aussie’s team wilted as they approached the finishing line and were left shattered as Carl Starfelt’s own goal sealed their fate in extra time.

Postecoglou’s team had won the Premier Sports Cup at Hampden and were hoping for a Treble.

But, although the clean sweep is now off the table, the boss believes the bitter setback must be charged into motivation to push towards the title, starting on Sunday away at Ross County.

Celtic have a six-point lead with five games to go in the flag race and he insists it cannot blow the bid off course.

Postecoglou said: “We have had to be resilient all year and this is another challenge for us.

“We are disappointed we didn’t get to another final, disappointed for our fans.

“But, irrespective of what happened, we have five games to concentrate on winning the league, starting next week.

“We need to make sure that we use this disappointment to fuel our endeavours in this next series of games.

“It was a typical semi-final, a very tight game between both teams and it was just decided by moments.

“We had our moments and they had theirs. Unfortunately they are the ones who got over the line.”

Celtic failed to hit their normal high standards in the last-four epic, but Postecoglou said: “It is just the nature of cup football, a semi-final.

“They are never going to be open games, players know what is at stake, they know the consequences of actions.

“It’s human nature