Paul Paton proud of Pars

“I might never be back here again so if this is my last time coming, I will never be prouder.”

Talking after losing in extra time at Celtic Park on Saturday Paul Paton agreed that he possessed a strange mixture of feelings - pride and disappointment.

“I don’t think that I have ever been prouder of a group of boys. As you get older, playing with a lot of young boys and you see the effort that they are putting in, you cannot ask for anymore. I thought they were outstanding.

“Celtic are not treble treble winners for nothing, they are the best team in the country. For a team of young boys that have just been put together, to come and show that effort and determination. I cried for them at the end honestly, I was absolutely gutted but obviously that bit of class showed in the end.

“I was starting to think ‘I’m the captain, I might need to take a penalty’. What an effort it would have been to have taken them to penalties but champions find a way and probably the best player in the country (James Forrest) has helped them out again.

“Fair play to them, I am just proud of my team, it sets us up well with a lot of confidence for our game against Dundee United.

“I have had a few draws here but never with a Championship side, never with a team with the budget that we have got. It is dwarfed, one of Celtic’s players on more than our team all put together.

“I have come here with teams that have done well but today is extra special for me, especially as captain.”

Dunfermline achieved just 36% possession against a team that forced 23 corners and managed 36 shots. Given Celtic’s seven goals against St Johnstone and five against Motherwell on the previous two Saturdays in the Premiership, some were predicting a Celtic goal feast against lower league competition.

To Celtic to extra time, the first Scottish side to do that at Celtic Park since Morton in September 2013, was beyond even most Dunfermline fans expectations. Paul was delighted to witness how well his young team mates had stood up to the test:-

“Just the fact that we will be at each other’s back and we will fight for each other. We did not have a lot of possession, there are not many teams come here and get a lot of possession. I remember watching Rangers in Gerard’s first time here, I don’t think they had much possession and they got battered.

“I thought we looked solid, there are a lot of positives going ahead. You know the man next to you is going to go to war with you. They are going to be at your back, that is the way I felt today and I am proud of them.

“I just have just told them that this will be the best warm up of your career, to come here to a big stadium. I am a Rangers fan but I feel myself singing the Celtic songs because I am that used to my Celtic pal fans singing them.

“You get in the mood, you are enjoying yourself but when the game starts it is totally different. I said just enjoy the warm up, boys might never play here again. This might be my last time at Parkhead so I made sure that I enjoyed it, I made sure that I enjoyed it and took it in.”

Paul even asked Callum McGregor for his top which is a bit of a surprise. The Celtic captain’s duly obliged and Paul suggested that it was destined for his daughter.

“I might never be back here again so if this is my last time coming, I will never be prouder.”

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