IT was a plan made in the shadows but executed to perfection in the biggest of spotlights.

Both of Celtic's main protagonists in what was one of Scottish football's most dazzling spectacle for many a year have emerged from the dark side into the light under Ronny Deila, proving that they are fit for a higher purpose in their manager's quest for success.

Kris Commons is someone whose talents are already well-known to the Parkhead crowd. Winner of last year's Premiership player of the year, the former Scotland international has been forced to bide his time under the Norwegian's regime in the east end of Glasgow.

Used sparingly at times in the earlier parts of the season and often from the bench, the midfielder has also had to contend with speculation around a protracted contract renewal saga, which now appears to be near its end.

He would have done the negotiations no harm at all yesterday as he thundered a fierce left-foot shot high beyond Steve Simonsen into the Rangers net, doubling Celtic's lead and putting any doubt to bed over the first Old Firm derby result in almost three years.

However, of all the Celtic players who made the short journey to the national stadium yesterday, the player who has come the furthest is undoubtedly Leigh Griffiths.

Yesterday's semi-final represented only his ninth start of the season under Deila in what has been a bumpy ride to Hampden. Seven times he has been left as an unused substitute, while there have been spells when the former Wolves man has been omitted from the match-day squad altogether.

Against that backdrop, it is understandable the rush of emotion that surged through the 24-year-old as he rose in the Rangers box on 10 minutes to head Celtic into a quick-fire lead in yesterday's semi-final.

"It's all about working hard so you can get a chance, but you then need to take it. And that's what I did against Rangers," the Parkhead forward told SportTimes.

"If someone had said to me when I was struggling to get into the team that I'd have scored the opener against Rangers here I probably wouldn't have believed them.

"But that's football, things can change in the blink of an eye. I'll be looking forward to the final now.

"We have a massive game against Dundee in the Scottish Cup, and hopefully we'll get through that as well."

It may come as a surprise given his difficulties earlier on in the season under Deila that the Norwegian was the person he ran to in celebration of what could be the most high-profile goal the Scotland international may ever score.

It is a sign of the relationship between the two and the recognition the Celtic manager has given his player in what has been an arduous journey back from being left out in the cold - a position that even brought his future at the club into question.

Deila had previously spoken about how Griffiths has changed his attitude and mentality to become a '24-hour' footballer.

And the feeling of respect can also be felt flowing in the opposite direction.

"The manager has been great," said the forward. "He's told me I deserved my chance in the team and the only thing I can do is work hard, play well and score goals. If I do that it will be difficult to leave me out.

"It was difficult when I wasn't playing, of course it was. Every player wants to play, but I had to bide my time.

"John [Guidetti] came in and did really well, [Stefan] Scepovic scored a couple of goals and he's been playing well.

"I knew my time would come, and that's been shown in the last few weeks, thankfully.

"I think I've played well and I scored against Motherwell and against Rangers, so we will see what happens."

After previously looking on from a distance, Griffiths is eager to make the most of his opportunity now he's the focal point of the Celtic attack.

That was demonstrated by his attitude yesterday. He did not stop running and chasing down the ball from the second the game started - he charged into the Rangers kick-off at the first whistle - to the moment he was substituted on 68 minutes with a standing ovation from the Hoops support.

"I just had to make sure that I connected with the ball well. It went in so everything was perfect," said Griffiths as he explained his goal with a smile on his face.

"Being fouled wasn't in my mind at all. If the boy comes in and clatters me the referee has to make a decision, but thankfully he didn't, I got my head on the ball, it nestled in the net and we went 1-0 up."

While yesterday's victory against a poor Rangers will still provide the forward with one of his career highlights, the chance to claim a few more is not too far away.

Next up for Celtic is that trip to Dens Park to take on Dundee in the Scottish Cup, before a mouth-watering tie against Inter Milan in the Europa League comes into view.

There is also the small matter of maintaining Celtic's lead at the top of the SPFL Premiership table. It's a challenge Griffiths is prepared to take in his stride.

He said: "You never know how far the team will go. You just need to take everything a game at a time. We are in one final, we are hoping to go through to the next round of the Scottish Cup next week up at Dens, then we have Inter Milan coming to town.

"It will be a difficult game, but on our day we can beat anybody."