Dundee boss Steven Pressley gave his reaction to his side’s heartbreaking Scottish Cup defeat to Celtic at the weekend…
The visitors had looked set for a historic victory at Celtic Park – their first in a quarter of a century – after Ethan Hamilton fired them ahead early in the second half with a stunning strike.
However, Celtic substitute Junior Adamu, introduced late on for Tomas Cvancara, flicked home a Sebastian Tounekti cross in the 96th minute to send the tie into extra time, where Tounekti later scored the decisive goal.
Although the fourth official had initially signalled five minutes of added time, referee Lee extended that period after Kieran Tierney required lengthy treatment for a head knock and was replaced by Marcelo Saracchi.
Questioned post-match whether he had any complaints about the game going into the 97th minute, Pressley replied via The Herald: “I have no complaints. None at all. We keep playing until the referee blows his whistle. Of course, we’re disappointed.
“Of course, if the official put up five minutes and it leads to 96 and a half. But we have to endure that. We have to stay focused. I’m just disappointed because I think our players deserved the win.
“It’s gut-wrenching. But I’m exceptionally proud of the team. To a man, they were exceptional. They left nothing out there. But not only did they show incredible effort, I thought they showed a lot of bravery.”
Pressley added: “Bravery to take the ball under pressure and play and build. So there were so many good things and the truth is, I thought we were there. You always have to give clubs like Celtic a great deal of respect. They never give up. I just thought we were there. I’m so disappointed.
“I’m so proud of this group. Even after the late setback in the game and then the early setback in extra time, it didn’t affect us. We kept going and even right up until the last kick of the ball we still looked like we could get something from the game.
“But also, we have to look at the bigger picture. And the bigger picture is that the team is moving forward. I think as individuals, there’s been a lot of progression. But now, we have to ensure that we stay in the Premiership. That’s our challenge and we’re a long way from securing that. So we’ve got a lot of hard work ahead of us.”
The Dundee boss continued: “The dressing room, like myself, is super disappointed. But also, I think they know how well they performed. They know they left nothing out there. When you have that feeling, there’s a feeling of pride in your performance. So I think that that will be the case.”
“I’m so proud of the players… we can’t give any more than we gave today” 🗣️@DundeeFC boss Steven Pressley reflects on his side’s display against Celtic 🔵#ScottishCup pic.twitter.com/W6Kl6AdH4m
— Premier Sports (@PremSportsTV) February 7, 2026
“One of the questions I posed to the group was that when we beat Celtic earlier on in the season, we were playing a slightly different way, a more pragmatic way, a more defensive way.
“But we’ve tried to evolve as a team, become a little bit more progressive, a little bit more controlled, have more of the ball. My challenge to the players was, ‘Can you come to a place like Celtic Park and play with that bravery and that control? And can we force our game onto them?’ I think the overriding answer was yes. So I think that’s why they should be proud of themselves.”
Steven Pressley has done a fine job at Dundee and they certainly seem to be a better team each time we play them. They will take points off the teams at the top of the table before this season is out of they continue to play the way they did at Celtic Park at the weekend.
Conor Spence
Introducing The Celtic Star App and our new ad-free Premium Service...
Go ad-free on The Celtic Star, get a FREE trial period to try it out. Also download our new App – available for both Apple and Android – and get the best Celtic content on your phone without fighting through pop-up ads and being forced to watch videos.
Our new PREMIUM service comes with a free seven-day trial so you can look before you book. If you are happy to continue the price will be just 99p per month or £9.99 for the year. For that you get an AD-FREE SITE plus access to our premium content, and you’ll also help us make The Celtic Star even better and less reliant on advertising revenues, allowing us to be more focused on publishing the best Celtic features on the internet.
Click HERE to access your FREE trial. We think you’ll like it! We’re Obsessed with Celtic and we think you are too! Join us hand in hand...
