Hibs boss Neil Lennon left to rue the individual errors that cost his side in defeat to Celtic

HIBS manager Neil Lennon last night lamented the individual errors he felt sabotaged his team’s chances of reaching the Betfred Cup Final.

“We lost two poor goals in the first half, and then you’re playing catch up,” he said of scores which reflected poorly on keeper Ross Laidlaw and full-back David Gray.

“I didn’t think there was anything in the game, I didn’t think we were being bombarded.

“Yes, Celtic dominated possession, but that was fine, we were happy to let them have it in certain areas.

“I’m just disappointed with the manner of the goals, they could have been avoided.

“Even the third, we’re dangling a leg rather than standing up to it.

“We had an opportunity to clear the first and we didn’t, and at the second the keeper should do better.

“So we had a mountain to climb, but we came back very strongly and almost got something out of the game. You can’t give a team of that calibre a head start.”

Lennon was able to take some positives from the defeat.

“There were some outstanding performances out there,” he said.

“The two centre-halves played great, Brandon Barker was very good, Dylan McGeouch and John McGinn were tremendous driving the game in the second half.

“Martin Boyle did well and, of course, young Oli Shaw comes on and gets us back in the game with more or less his first touch.

“But we still conceded two in the second half, and that’s the gamble you have to take sometimes.

“We’re getting closer.

“There’s a good mentality in the team, the football is good, they try to play and create chances, but there will be some who’ll have regrets about today.

“The majority of them left everything out there, so that pleases me.”

Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers, for his part, was ecstatic after watching his side survive what he felt was a clear injustice.

The Hoops had a penalty awarded against them in the second half by Kevin Clancy, when Dedryck Boyata was adjudged to have taken down Hibs winger Martin Boyle in the area.

Anthony Stokes converted and the holders 2-0 lead was halved to give Neil Lennon’s side a lifeline they badly needed.

And it left Rodgers fearing the sort of cruel cup exit Celtic suffered in the Scottish Cup in 2015 at the hands of eventual competition winners, Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

Back then, a clear handball by Caley Jags’ defender Josh Meekings, who saved Leigh Griffiths shot on the goal-line was missed by referee Steven McLean.

“Any coach or manager will tell you that, particularly in the showpiece games, you don’t want a decision to go against you because you don’t get the chance to come back again,” said Rodgers.

“That is because there are no replays, it’s a one-off game.

“Sometimes you look at it and get that initial reaction and then you go back to the repeat and see it differently.

“My initial reaction was that Dedryck recovered well, the boy is running front over the ball, he gets his toe to it and the ball is misdirected.

“There are two poor decisions.

“One from the referee who is on his way back and then he is looking for help form the linesman who is facing it – how he gave the penalty I will never know.

“It gave Hibs a little bit of oxygen and asked a question of us, in terms of our composure and mentality, and the team responded well to get the extra goals, so I am absolutely delighted.”

Not least because the majority of his players had been in Champions League action two-and-half-days earlier.

“It’s a brilliant result after the exertions and travel of midweek, to come and play against a Hibs team that, as we saw a few weeks back, can be a real threat. And we scored four goals.

“It was clear there was a bit of fatigue in our play, but that was only natural.”