Celtic Through To The Scottish Cup Semis

Nakamura Denies Rumours Of His Imminent Departure

Celtic came from a goal down at second division Livingston to cruise into the Scottish FA Cup quarter-finals with an easy4-1 win. The Bhoy's reward is a game away to Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the quarter-finals. Livingston took a shock lead through Dave MacKay on 18 minutes, but Celtic came back with Darren O'Dea scoring from close-range on the half hour. In first half stoppage time, Derek Riordan hit home from the left of the penalty area to make it 2-1. Two second-half goals inside a minute wrapped up the tie for Celtic as Riordan blasted a near-post shot past keeper Colin Stewart on 59 minutes. Then Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink grabbed the fourth with a low, drilled shot from 15 yards.

Gordon Strachan praised the contribution of Shunsuke Nakamura and two-goal hero Derek Riordan after the Hoops strolled to a 4-1 win over Livingston in the Scottish Cup. Strachan was blown away by the performance of his Japanese midfield star. "We were watching a genius at work today," said the Hoops boss when asked about Nakamura's display. "We all hear about his limitations. It's said he doesn't tackle. So what? He's incredibly brave because if you watch how he uses his feet, he takes kicks and it hurts - yet he puts in incredible passes. If you're talking about pure football, he's the man. Livingston had a game plan and it worked well for them during the first 20 minutes. We knew they would give us problems with their height and they did. But when we got into our stride we moved the ball about well and there was a variety about our goals, which was pleasing."

It was Riordan who put the finishing touches to two moves and Strachan is delighted to see the 24-year-old doing well at Celtic. He said: "Derek is doing what we always said he could, which is score goals. I've said a few times that he is probably the best finisher we have at the club. The problem Derek that had when he first came to us was that he was behind Shaun Maloney and Aiden McGeady and had to wait his turn. But he never brought any problems into the dressing-room. He was a good team-mate and now he's getting his chance. We're all delighted for him."

Hearts striker Michal Pospisil has questioned the wisdom of the club allowing Paul Hartley to join Celtic. Pospisil said: "I'm disappointed. I don't like to see good players going out of the club, it makes us weaker. Paul was an excellent play-maker and that is an important position. He was able to decide a game, he was good at set-pieces and could set the tempo. We have lots cover but we don't have the same type of player here." Hartley, who had 18 months to run, was sold to Celtic for £1.1m on the final day of the January transfer window.

Stiliyan Petrov has pledged his future to Aston Villa, after dismissing speculation he could have returned to Celtic before the transfer window closed. There were rumors that Petrov might be used by Martin O'Neill as part of the deal which brought Shaun Maloney from Parkhead to Villa. Petrov said: "I had a phone call from Bulgaria before the window closed, asking if it was true that I was going back to Celtic - but I need to kill this rumour straightaway. Celtic have always been in my heart, and I had seven great years there - but I won't go back."

Gordon Strachan says Shaun Maloney is not irreplaceable after the midfielder's move to Aston Villa. Maloney sealed a £1m switch to the EPL to team up with former boss Martin O'Neill. Strachan said: "I was very close to him. But there have only been about four or five people throughout the club's history that you can't replace. It's disappointing to lose all good players. It was disappointing when Roy Keane retired, when Stiliyan Petrov left, when John Hartson moved on, when Chris Sutton left. It's more disappointing because Shaun was young and I was very close to him."

Mark Fotheringham has revealed he snubbed Rangers to join Norwich - because he wanted to play a higher standard of football. The former Celtic star joined on transfer deadline day. Fotheringham had been training with Rangers for a week and looked set to join Walter Smith's men. However, having watched former Bhoy Peter Grant's side take on Wolves at Carrow Road, the 24-year-old was quick to change his mind.