“You can’t go chasing Celtic. You can see the speed they’ve got,” Barry Robson | OneFootball

Barry Robson reflected on Celtic’s 5-0 thrashing of his Raith Rovers side in Glasgow’s East End on Saturday evening…

Daizen Maeda of Celtic scores his team’s second goal past Josh Rae of Raith Rovers during the Scottish Cup match between Celtic FC and Raith Rovers FC at Celtic Park on February 08, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Daizen Maeda’s third hat-trick in 12 months alongside Luke McCowan  and Yang Hyun-jun second half strikes booked Celtic’s place in the quarter-final of the Scottish Cup.

Scottish Cup Draw takes place tonight

Brendan Rodgers’ side will learn their opponents for the next round of the oldest cup competition in football tonight after St Mirren v Hearts in Paisley. Hope we can avoid Queen’s Park, they look some team.

The Kirkcaldy side return to league action on Saturday against Partick Thistle. Raith Rovers are nine points off the Jags who occupy the final Premiership playoff position, therefore it is a must win for Robson’s men.

Luke McCowan of Celtic celebrates scoring his team’s third goal with teammates during the Scottish Cup match between Celtic FC and Raith Rovers FC at Celtic Park on February 08, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

‘I’d said to them ‘don’t lose an early goal’

Speaking to Raith TV, the former Celtic midfielder gave his assessment of the match: “To lose a goal within six minutes rocked us a wee bit.”

“I’d said to them ‘don’t lose an early goal’. It rocked us a wee bit but after that, I thought we settle down and showed good character. We started to grow into the game. We had a few chances, a few transitions.”

“When we went in at half-time, I thought we’d performed really well because that’s a really good side.”

‘They beat a Scottish Premier League team three days ago by 6-0’

Robson added: “They kept fighting, they really did, and a big help with that was the fans. We needed them there today because this Celtic side can beat teams by six, seven or eight-nil.”

“They beat a Scottish Premier League team three days ago by 6-0 and that’s a team with probably three or four times the budget we’re on.”

Yang Hyun-Jun of Celtic celebrates scoring his team’s fourth goal with teammates during the Scottish Cup match between Celtic FC and Raith Rovers FC at Celtic Park on February 08, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

‘I would have loved to have given the fans a wee bit more’

“I was proud of them. I would have loved to have given the fans a wee bit more, but you could see that when we did go out and we did try and press and we went for it, you could see the speed Celtic have going the other way so we had to try and be measured with that.”

“If we hadn’t lost those goals at crucial times, we might have tried to make it a bit closer. I thought our structure was good. It’s a hard, hard place for players to come and play, believe me. I’ve been here myself, I’ve played here myself, so I know how hard it is. I just think we deserved a wee bit more.”

Callum McGregor of Celtic applauds the fans after the team’s victory in the Scottish Cup match between Celtic FC and Raith Rovers FC at Celtic Park on February 08, 2025 . (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

‘You can’t go chasing Celtic‘

“I think the game-plan went fine because you can’t go chasing Celtic. You can see the speed they’ve got at the top end of the pitch, so you could lose countless amounts of goals.”

“We could have kept the ball a wee bit better, I thought, at times today but it’s difficult when you’re chasing the game. We came here and performed well, better than some premier league teams have done.”

Conor Spence

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