Crisis at Celtic: Embarrassed Parkhead squad promise improvement after semi-final humbling

• A dejected Robbie Keane following Celtic's Scottish Cup semi-final loss to Ross County

The Hoops' interim manager Neil Lennon slated his men after the Irn Bru First Division side dramatically and deservedly won through to their first final since their formation in 1929.

The Celtic defender, 19, insists the players will have to pacify the disgruntled fans when the Steelmen travel to the east end of Glasgow in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

"The defeat was horrible," Thompson said. "The fans deserved more and we let the manager down. Everyone knows it wasn't good enough, it's not what Celtic are about. I can't put my finger on it, it seemed they were winning the second balls and we didn't play as well as we can.

"The next game is on Tuesday against Motherwell and we have to go out and show pride. We have to redeem ourselves to the fans. That's the motivation now."

As the Parkhead club lick their wounds after the defeat, Lennon's bid to keep the job is in tatters.

The Irishman kept his players in the dressing room for 15 minutes after the game and strikers Georgios Samaras and Marc-Antoine Fortune, in particular, came in for some stinging criticism.

However, the big Greek striker, who hit the post when Celtic were trailing 1-0, kept his counsel. Asked if Lennon was still the man for the job, Samaras retorted: "Yes, 100 per cent." Then asked to expand on what was said in the dressing room by Lennon, the former Manchester City striker replied: "What happened in the dressing room stays in the dressing room. Our biggest target this season was to win the cup and it didn't work out. The only thing we can do is keep our heads up and we have another difficult game on Tuesday. "We have to prepare for that. It is difficult but we must play for our pride."

The few Hoops fans who were still in the national stadium when the final whistle sounded vented their fury at their team.

The Parkhead club have suffered shock cup defeats in the past to teams such Partick Thistle, Raith Rovers, Inverness and Clyde but the loss to County is up there with any of them, a point which was not lost on Hoops' defender Andreas Hinkel.

"To play for Celtic is a big honour and what we did today, we were not worthy of a Celtic jersey," he said.

"It is such a big club and if you wear the shirt in a semi-final you have to do better.

"It was more than disappointing. It was horrendous.

"It was one of the worst feelings I have.

"You cannot explain it. We didn't deserve to win, we were not good enough."

The defeat probably ended interim manager Neil Lennon's chances of getting the post on a full-time basis but Hinkel refused to blame the Irishman who took over from Tony Mowbray.

Hinkel said: "Lenny did everything right, the players didn't do it right on the pitch."