Kelly Clark: We need to seize the moments in Hampden semi-final

Kelly Clark: We need to seize the moments in Hampden semi-final

Celtic FC Women are in action this Saturday when they take on Glasgow City at Hampden in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup.

The cup clash follows hot on the heels of the 1-1 midweek league draw, when Celtic secured an impressive point despite playing the whole of the second-half with 10 players.

Kelly Clark believes that performance has given the team a lift ahead of their trip to the National Stadium, while the incentive of reaching a cup final means the squad are looking forward to the tie.

Speaking to Celtic TV ahead of the game, the Celtic captain said: “Wednesday night was a decent performance in hard conditions, and it’s given us energy.

“We were disappointed with a couple of performances before that, but I think we gave ourselves a lift on Wednesday night. The atmosphere’s great and the squad’s ready to go.

“These are pressure games, massive games and you want to get yourself to the final. It’s the National Stadium, it’s where you want to be and you know you’ve done alright in the cup when you get to that point, so we’re really looking forward to it.

'In years gone by we’ve stood up to the occasion and we’re really hoping to stand up again on Saturday.'

“I love Hampden. I love playing on grass, to be honest. We don’t get to do it very often so it’s nice when we do. It’s a massive pitch, which we like. It’s a historic stadium and a huge occasion, so we’re looking forward to it.

“You aim to get to Hampden when it comes to the Scottish Cup and when you get there, you’ve still a chance of winning it, and the whole day is a great occasion to play in.”

Saturday’s Scottish Cup semi-final will be the fifth meetings between the sides this sides, with three 1-1 draws and a narrow 2-1 defeat for the Hoops in the previous clashes.

And Kelly Clark is hoping that it will be a positive result for Celtic this time around, which would also mean a return to Hampden for the final.

“The distinguishing factor in these big games is the big moments,” she said. “There’s not often many of them and the games are usually won on one or two small moments.