Plenty for Dylan McGeouch still to play for at Celtic

DYLAN McGeouch was disappointed to be denied the opportunity to impress Celtic manager Neil Lennon even more in Sunday’s William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final against Hearts.

The midfielder was thrown into the action at Hampden after 82 minutes and had an immediate impact on the tie, which had looked set for extra time when Gary Hooper cancelled out Rudi Skacel’s opener.

But a controversial penalty for Hearts in injury time – which was converted by former Parkhead forward Craig Beattie – ensured there would be no time for Celtic to rescue the match.

McGeouch, who was yesterday named in the Scotland under-21 squad for this month’s friendly against Italy, told Celtic’s website: “It was great for me to get a wee chance at the end. I thought I did okay when I came on, taking people on and getting forward.

“We got the goal and then sadly we lost the penalty at the end and that ruined my chances for the day as well because if the game had gone on a wee bit longer it would have given me more of a chance to have an impact.”

The 2-1 result set up an all-Edinburgh final with Hibernian next month, as well as denying Celtic the chance of a domestic double, having already secured the Clydesdale Bank Premier League title.

But, as far as McGeouch is concerned, there is still plenty more to play for in the remaining five games as the 19-year-old aims to impress.

He added: “I just need to keep training and impress the manager and hopefully me and a few of the other young boys can get a chance between now at the end of the season.

“I didn’t think I would play as much because of the injury. I thought this year I would be bedding into the squad but I’ve done more than that, so I’m excited about that and I’m looking forward to next season.”