Clark insists Celtic must harness frustration of Rangers loss in critical week

Celtic captain Kelly Clark has insisted that the Parkhead side need to harness the frustration of their Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Rangers as they head into a critical week that will shape their season.

Elena Sadiku’s side take on Glasgow City on Wednesday night before they take on Rangers in league duty next Monday.

With five league games remaining and a two-point cushion they can ill afford to replicate the same lethargic performance that was on display against Rangers at Hampden as they were dismissed from the Scottish Cup.

“The role of the senior players now is massive across the next week,” said Clark. “It is a massive game for us against Glasgow City on Wednesday and then we have Rangers again.

“It is a huge week that is ahead of us so we need to get this out of system as quickly as we possibly can.

“We didn’t play well anywhere on Saturday. It is difficult but the most difficult thing is the performance. If we had played well and got beat we would have been frustrated but it is the performance that is hard to take.

“We got away with it against Hibs. We didn’t play well but we still got the win but we just didn’t get going against Rangers.

“We would be scrapping the bottom of the barrel to find a positive in there but if there is anything it is that we didn’t play well and Rangers didn’t break us down until they got a set piece in the 85th minute of the game.

“I don’t know what the reason for that is. Right now I can’t put my finger on what went wrong. I will watch it back and speak to every player to try and understand.

“We will reflect on Saturday. We have to. We will analyse it but we have to get ready to go again.

“We just cannot afford a performance like this one we put in against Rangers.”

Chelsea Cornet, who scored the opener on Saturday, has insisted that despite the psychological edge that came from the victory that there is no-one getting too carried away at Rangers.
“We have not won anything yet,” she insisted. “Our focus now is on Hearts on Wednesday.

“We will gain some confidence from it because it is a big win but, again, we have not won anything. We are in a final and we are ready for the run-in and it is just about focussing on every game.

“We will take all the positives from the game on Saturday but we know that we need be fully focussed before now and the end of the season.

“At no point did I feel under pressure that we could lose the game at Hampden. We were patient and I think we always felt that the goals were going to come.

“We dominated in every position and we limited their chances and that is credit to us.”

They face Hearts on Wednesday on league duty and it is Eva Olid’s side who they will take on in next month’s final. The Tynecastle side beat Spartans 3-0 at Hampden yesterday courtesy of goals from Kate Mooney, Kathleen McGovern and Carly Girasoli.

It is a first for Hearts to get to the Women's Scottish Cup final with a thrilled Olid delighted at the performance and the progress.

“It has been an emotional day,” said Olid. “I tried to keep calm for the players but it is amazing. “We needed a little time but after that we controlled the game.”

In the only SWPL game of the weekend, Dundee United claimed a massive 2-1 win over Hamilton to leave both level on points at the foot of the table.