Smith says no stopping Mulgrew

"Obviously Celtic were going to have possession of the ball for long periods, it was just a case of dealing with it."

Chris Smith had a busy night at Celtic Park on Wednesday night, many fans felt that it was his best ever in a Pars jersey and he was happy with his performance although disappointed with the result. He told the website:-

"Give Celtic chances to attack and they will take them. It was just a matter of me trying to keep the ball out of the back of the net and do my job. I am there to make saves but distribution, handling and crossed balls are part of it.  I had a busy night but we had one cleared off the line, big Alex Keddie had a chance at the back post in the first half and maybe could have knocked it across.

"These games you can take with a pinch of salt because goalkeepers can make 10 or 15 saves a game but when you go into a game where you are asked to make just one save, these are the most important ones.

"It is a belief thing - if you go out there you have to believe. We weren't expected to take anything from Celtic Park; St Johnstone have done it this season but not many others. We played with one up front, tried to flood the midfield, keep it tight and stop them playing in between us. They did get through a few times but I thought the boys did their job really well.

"Celtic scored one from 25 yards out and the other late in the game was a hard one. Obviously Celtic were going to have possession of the ball for long periods, it was just a case of dealing with it."

Charlie Mulgrew scored a screamer of a goal to open the scoring that Chris had little chance of stopping:-

"I don't know if anyone moved to block it but I didn't see it until late. Ozzie (Austin McCann) told me after the game that  from where he was warming up behind the goal that the ball was moving everywhere. Goalkeepers can get harshly treated by strikes outside the area but it is hard to realise how much the ball moves these days. They are made for strikers to score goals.

"Mulgrew hit it well, he is soon to be an international player and he hit a shot from 25 yards plus, that was hard to deal with. He has plenty of power behind that left foot of his, I have seen it before.

"The second goal came from a good ball if Ozzie had won the header there would have been a good chance that it could have knocked it in his own net. The ball went all the way to the back post and James Forrest just slid in. It is how we react as a team that's important. Obviously the cross was coming in and it would be harsh to say that Ozzie should have cleared it."

Chris claimed that despite their league position, going to Celtic Park did not put his side under any pressure:-

"If you are not going to enjoy playing in front of 50,000 fans you shouldn't be playing the game in my opinion. It is an opportunity to play in front of a big crowd, obviously we are hoping to take something out of the game but our 'bread and butter' is on Saturday against St Johnstone. Hopefully we can get ourselves freshened up and get a good result there.

"We need to go on to St Johnstone in the right frame of mind; we have won there before, hopefully we can do it again. We need to be disciplined in our game and hopefully take three points."