Simo Valakari’s instant reaction to Scottish Cup draw as St Johnstone wonder-goal sets up Celtic tie

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Celtic have drawn St Johnstone in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup.

The Bhoys club beat Hibs on Sunday and went into the draw with Hearts and Aberdeen. The other tie between St Johnstone and Livingston played out last night. Simo Valakiri’s men booked their place in the semi-finals to face Celtic with a 1-0 win at Almondvale.

Graham Carey scored the only goal of the game, and, in truth, what a goal it was.

Brendan Rodgers now knows who stands in his way as the Celtic manager bids to win another treble and reacting to the draw, Simo Valakari reacted to to his St Johnstone side drawing the Hoops in the Scottish Cup.

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What St Johnstone’s Barry Douglas said after booking Scottish Cup tie with Celtic

Valakari was delighted to book his place at Hampden and shared what veteran St Johnstone defender Barry Douglas told his players at full time inside Almondvale.

Valakari told The Scottish Football Podcast [17m], “To get to the semi-final, Barry Douglas was talking after the game in the dressing room, you think you’re a young player and you many opportunities, but your career goes fast.

“It might be that you never get the chance to go to Hampden and play in a semi-final. So it’s a big achievement. Now we can go and enjoy the day.”

St Johnstone boss Valakari admits he watched Celtic vs Hibs Scottish Cup win

With Celtic playing 24 hours beforehand, Valakari admits he took in the Celtic win against Hibs and said that his St Johnstone team are well aware at ‘how good’ Brendan Rodgers’ team are.

Valakari continued, “Yeah, of course [when asked if he wanted to avoid Celtic] . I watched Celtic vs Hibs’ quarter-final and we know how good a team Celtic is. But we will think about that later on.

“Now we enjoy it tonight, to be in semi-final, to play at Hampden. It will be a great day for our team, for our fans. And we go and enjoy it.”

The Scottish Cup is a trophy that Celtic have won a record 42 times over their illustrious history. For Rodgers, the old trophy represents a unique moment in his career when Tom Rogic fired in that winner in the 2017 Invincibles win.

The Hoops boss will be keen to hold onto the cup that he won against Rangers last season and to win Celtic’s record-breaking ninth domestic treble in the Parkead club’s history.