REFEREE Steven McLean admits his Scottish Cup final appointment is a chance to make up for the Hampden howler that left Celtic furious last season.

The whistler failed to spot a handball from Josh Meekings as Inverness Caley Thistle knocked Ronny Deila’s side out of the competition at the semi-final stage.

The decision was met with an angry response from the Hoops and John Hughes’ side went on to lift the trophy as they beat Falkirk 2-1 at the National Stadium.

McLean was in charge of the League Cup final two years ago as Aberdeen beat Caley Thistle at Parkhead but he will now be given the showpiece finale to the campaign this weekend.

And the FIFA official hopes he can learn from his previous experiences as Rangers and Hibernian go head-to-head in front of a packed Hampden crowd.

McLean told Sky Sports: "This is absolutely massive. It is the pinnacle for any Scottish referee.

"It's a great privilege, a great honour and it's a special match so I am absolutely delighted to be appointed to this fixture.

"The League Cup final was a special occasion as well but everybody wants the Scottish. It's the big one.

“It's going to be a great occasion, a great experience and one I am very much looking forward to.

“Of course [it is a chance to atone for that error]. We learn from all experiences.

"Obviously that was an incident that was missed, it was disappointing on the day and I take ultimate responsibility for it. But we have a referee team and we share responsibility so it’s important that we learn from those incidents.

"But we use our experiences from both positive incidents and negative incidents just to move forward and use it as a learning opportunity and hopefully I have used that in the last season to perform well.

"I had a really consistent performance level this season and I think I have benefitted from all my experiences in my career and that is what has enabled us to be in this position."