CELTIC fullback Greg Taylor has been one of the quiet success stories of the Parkhead side’s season. Regarded with some scepticism as the long-term replacement for Kieran Tierney, the Scotland internationalist has gone some way in recent months to silencing his critics as he has firmly held onto the first-team shirt. 

“The gaffer has been very helpful in terms of helping me adapt to a different way of playing so I have enjoyed that,” he said.  “I would say my performances have been pretty consistent this year and I have enjoyed trying to play the way the manager’s way, the way he wants us to play. I have tried to learn and improve every game and I am continuing to try and do that. 

“Everyone has been really complimentary. We have been on a good run domestically so the fans seem to be happy quite happy with us and how we are playing. The manager is big on that he stresses that they look forward to the 90 minutes they get to see us play all week long so it is important we do our best to send them home happy.” 

They would be considerably cheerier this afternoon if they leave Hampden having booked their place in the Scottish Cup final by dispatching Rangers along the way. 

“The cup games are different in that you know there are no second chances,” said Taylor.  “I would not say you look forward to them more because we love playing all the games here but certainly you know you are going to need to be on it on the day. 

“We love playing in front of our fans. They will bring a brilliant atmosphere to the tie. They will be there in big numbers and we will try and get the result for them. 

“We won at Ibrox in the league but this is a totally different game and it come down to the 90 minutes or indeed the 120 minutes. You can’t take too much from what has gone before. Come Sunday we need to be ready and to be fair our opponents will be the same. 

“[The manager] is very level headed and he keeps us that way as well. He does emphasise the opportunity right in front of us though. He will talk about the fact it is semi-final and about the fans turning out in their numbers hoping to see us success. We know what is at stake, we are not naive in that regard.”