County shock spur for Celts says Mulgrew

Defender Charlie Mulgrew admitted the spectre of the defeat by Ross County helped spur Celtic to the Scottish Cup final - even though he and most of his team-mates were not at the club for the loss.

Mulgrew was among eight of the starting line-up for the 4-0 semi-final win over Aberdeen who came to Celtic after the shock loss in the semi-finals last April.

But the centre-back, who opened the scoring four minutes after half-time, revealed manager Neil Lennon had warned his players of the dangers of failing to rise to the occasion again.

"It was fresh in a few boys' minds and definitely the manager's," Mulgrew said. "He made it clear to us not to make the same mistakes again."

Mulgrew's goal, direct from an inswinging free-kick, came after ten-man Aberdeen had frustrated Celtic following the 18th-minute dismissal of Andrew Considine for bringing down Gary Hooper in the area.

Jamie Langfield saved the resulting Anthony Stokes penalty but Celtic stepped up a gear in the second period with Joe Ledley, Kris Commons and Shaun Maloney also netting

Mulgrew said: "It's massive for us, there are a lot of boys here who have not played in the final."