Bhoys joy ends week of pain

CELTIC manager Martin O’Neill has revealed that the pain of losing the title on the final day had almost paralysed their attempts to retain the Tennent’s Scottish Cup.

In the end, the Hoops did just that by fending off a stubborn Dundee United side thanks to an early deflected Alan Thompson free-kick which proved to be the only goal of the afternoon.

But the agony of surrendering the Premier League crown to Rangers the previous week by conceding two late goals to Motherwell meant O'Neill had first to rejuvenate his own enthusiasm before he could do the same for his players.