Celtic boss Ronny Deila vows to fight on after Ross County dash treble hopes

Celtic boss Ronny Deila insisted he was not worried about his position at the club after the 3-1 defeat by Ross County in the League Cup semi-final.

The holders hopes of a domestic treble were dashed after a lightning start which yielded a first minute goal was compromised by a red card for Efe Ambrose with County going on to reach their second-ever Hampden final with goals from Martin Woods, Paul Quinn and Alex Schalk.     

Celtic were knocked out of the Scottish Cup at the same stage by Inverness last season, but when asked if he was concerned about his job, Deila said: "I'm not worried about anything. I've got big ambitions and I'm as disappointed as everyone else.

"Cups are tough things as you saw last year and you see this year as well. Things can happen in one game and it happened again. We went out and we are very disappointed.

"But there is still a lot to play for. I see a team that can be really good here and I'm going to work really hard to get us where we want.

"I think we started very well. The first 10 minutes was very good. We created three or four chances and we scored a beautiful goal.

"We had everything in our hands and then of course the red card changed everything again. Playing 80 minutes with 10 men made it hard for us."

Deila was aggrieved over County's second goal, claiming Craig Gordon had been blocked before Quinn nodded in after a corner.

He said: "In my opinion it was a clear free-kick on Craig Gordon. He was taken out of the goal and he couldn't come back to it.

"Having said that it was poor defending from us and we got blocked out in the marking but in my opinion it was a free-kick to us.

"Then we have to go forward and they get one counter-attack and score. That made it hard for us."

County boss Jim McIntyre feared the worst after Celtic's lightning start but was 'chuffed' with the way his side ultimately made the extra man count.

He said: "After the early goal, you think it this is going to be a long day, without a shadow of doubt. We were set up to be stiff and hard to break down and it was a really poor goal we gave away.

"Celtic are capable of that on their day and we had to ride that spell out. For the next 10 minutes we had to hang in there and Scott Fox had to make a couple of saves, then we got a wee bit of belief back by making passes and we got a shot at goal which let us know we are in the semi-final and we need to have a go.

"I'm absolutely thrilled with the effort the guys gave us today. Celtic are a top side.

"The character this team keeps showing when they go goals behind - we might not always win the game but we always come back into it and make chances, and I'm absolutely chuffed for them."

The Highlanders will be hoping to go one better than in their only previous appearance in a national final; they lost out to Dundee United in the Scottish Cup final in 2010 - having beaten Celtic in the semi-final also on that occasion.

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