Hughes: Pressure On Celtic

Photo by Jeff Holmes Inverness boss John Hughes claims all the pressure is on Celtic in next week's William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park. The teams shared the spoils in a Scottish Premiership dress rehearsal at the Tulloch Caledonian stadium on Saturday. In a blustery day in the Highlands, striker Leigh Griffiths opened the scoring for the league leaders in the third minute with a drive before his Caley counterpart Edward Ofere levelled just over a minute later from close range. Inverness keeper Dean Brill, back in the side for the first time in 11 weeks after recovering from a knee problem, dislocated the same knee in the 15th minute after making a clearance under pressure from Gary Mackay-Steven. He was replaced by Ryan Esson who denied the visitors with a couple of fine saves to leave third-placed Caley with four points from the three league meetings with the Scottish League Cup winners, whose desire to capture the domestic treble has been the theme of most of their season. It is those Celtic hopes and expectations which leads Hughes to believe his side will be the more relaxed of the two at the national stadium next Sunday lunchtime. "We have earned the right to have a right good go in a semi-final," said the former Hoops defender. "They know that they are going to have to be at their best and if they off itand we are at it, then there could be an upset. "We have nothing to lose. "All the pressure is on Celtic. They are going for the treble. We will go there and give it a right good go. "We have been working on stuff and I have tried it out in a couple of games; another way to try to play against Celtic. "But we will have to be much better in possession than we were in the second-half." Hughes, sadly, will have to come up with a game plan which does not involve Brill, whom he ruled out for the rest of the season. He said: "It is a real downer for him. I feel for him but he is in good hands. But we have a right good deputy in Ryan Esson. He has had good game time recently." Celtic take on Kilmarnock at home on Wednesday night before turning their attention to the semi-final but Griffiths is looking forward to playing on the newly-laid Hampden pitch. The former Wolves striker said: "Credit to Inverness, they gave us a good game and I think they will be giving us an even harder game next week. "We will be playing on a better pitch, that's for sure. "That's one of the worst pitches we have played on this season. "I think both teams will be a lot different next week. The pitch plays a big factor, it was bobbly, it was dry but next week will be totally different."