MARTIN O’NEILL enjoyed success the last time he led Celtic to a semi-final at Hampden.
That was back in November during the Irishman’s first stint as interim manager when they defeated Ibrox opposition in the last four of the Premier Sports League Cup.
The trophy holders won 3-1 in extra-time with strikes from Johnny Kenny, Callum McGregor and Callum Osmand.
Unfortunately, O’Neill wasn’t around a month later when Wilfried Nancy was in charge in his third outing after being named full-time successor to Brendan Rodgers who had quit in late October.
It’s history now that St Mirren won 3-1 against the hapless Hoops who lost their way during the Frenchman’s disastrous 33 days at the club that brought six defeats in eight matches before he was sacked and a second SOS was sent out to O’Neill.
The 74-year-old coach has turned around the fortunes of the team, but would be among the first to admit they can play an awful lot better than they did in the 1-0 league win over the Paisley club at Parkhead last weekend.
Now O’Neill is hoping his players will rise to the occasion against the Saints at the national stadium and said: “I thought the last time I was there really would have been the last time, but we’ve got an opportunity in a semi-final and I’m looking forward to it.
“It would be lovely to get to the Final, but St Mirren will take great confidence from the fact that they won recently.
“They played very well against us last week and the last time we faced each other at Hampden they won the Cup.
“If we can win the game, it would definitely have a positive effect going in to the rest of the season.
“Similarly, if we don’t win, then it could be quite the opposite, a poor effect.
“But we’ll be going all out to win.”
Discussing the injuries that have blighted the squad throughout a turbulent campaign, O’Neill, speaking to Celtic TV, continued: “I think it’s probably a bit too early now for Alistair Johnson, but he has trained, so that’s really good news.
“There are no ill effects at this minute.
“And young Callum Osmand is also making progress, So, that’s really encouraging.”
Asked if the summer recruit from Fulham could be the long-term answer to Celtic’s ongoing striker problem, O’Neill answered: “Well, it’s a really good point.
“Yeah, he was coming off the bench in some of those early matches and was making an impact, particularly in the Cup semi-final against Rangers.
“And he was really building confidence as well against Midtjylland in the next game. He got in behind a couple of times and looked really sharp – and then picked up the injury.
“Over time, I think he’ll be a really decent player for us.”
The Scottish Cup Final is scheduled for Saturday May 23 and Neil Lennon’s Dunfermline take on Falkirk tomorrow afternoon before the Hoops and Saints go into action 24 hours later.
A win for Celtic will line up the opportunity for O’Neill to say farewell in style at Hampden next month.
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