Top Line Summary

  • No cracks or divisions within the Celtic team
  • Coping with pressure daily for 15 years
  • Having a fire in the belly
  • Negative narratives, no vulnerability and a siege mentality

Everything that Stephen Welsh said to the media after Celtic's 2-0 Scottish Cup victory over St Mirren in Paisley...

Was that a hard-earned win?

We spoke about it before the game, it is a tough place to go. The last three venues we have been to have been tough but we had to dig in in the first and second half and came out deserved winners."

Was that as much defending as you have done in any game?

They (St Mirren) are a physical team and they like to put balls in the box. It is very effective for them. We had to deal with and I thought we dealt with it well as a back four and Joe (Hart) included.

What about people saying that there are cracks in the team?

There are no cracks. We are confident in what we do. The gaffer is confident in what we do and we stick together, not just the back four, the midfield three and front three and whoever comes on the pitch. We are together, we are really a united team so we will move forward.

Is there a sense that you are making up for lost time this season?

It was a frustrating first few months, I had a bad injury and I was out for four or five months so to get back into the swing of things, that is my first 90 in a while so delighted with a clean sheet as well. Joe had to make a couple of saves but that is what he is there for.

The manager spoke about a negative narrative around the club. How does that affect you and the younger players?

We are used to this. Every season the pressure for every Celtic player is huge. We deal with it really well. Especially the last couple of seasons, we have been very successful and it is about us maintaining the standards to be successful again and go and win the trophies that are available to us.

The boss seems to have some fire in his belly. Have you seen any evidence of that?

I think we always have a fire in the belly. Every team comes to beat us and our job is to stop them, play our own game and we have done that in the last couple of games. There is always a determination in this group. Not only the quality but the character that we have. We have a lot of experienced players who have won trophies. We won a treble last season so the experience we have in the team is excellent. We are always looking at the next game, we know that is the cliche but that's what we do. We have a couple of home games to hopefully put in good performances."

Does it help you to cope with pressure when you have grown up at the club?

I have been under pressure for 15 years now. Every week you need to go and win. You enjoy it as well, you enjoy the pressure because you need to go and win. A draw or a defeat is a nightmare so yeah, we know the pressure and we stand up to it all the time.

Do you think teams sense that you are vulnerable?

I wouldn't say vulnerable, no. We are so determined. It is like tunnel vision for us, we don't focus on anything else, we focus on ourselves, how we will play, break teams down and defend. We take every game 100 per cent, and every training session leads up to the next game so for us, it is normal for us to be under that pressure and we always deal with it very well.

Is there a siege mentality at the club now?

We are always strong together. We know that every team wants to beat Celtic and our job is to stop that. Our job is to win games, perform well and win trophies for the club.