A SHUDDER goes down the spine of Paul McStay whenever Celtic are taken to a penalty shoot-out.

The ghost of Raith Rovers has not quite been exorcised even 21 years after his miss at Ibrox in the Coca-Cola Cup final.

So he felt deeply for Scott Brown, the current club captain, when didn't score his spot-kick in Sunday's dramatic shoot-out.

And he found the finale to the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final a difficult watch.

McStay said: "It wasn't just Sunday, probably any time you see penalties it (the Raith Rovers cup final) goes through my head.

"You could say it's a lottery, but the way you approach and take the penalty is important. Mind games come into it as well as tiredness at the end of the game.

"But for me it's what happened before it and Celtic created a lot of chances - but it was dominating the game that let them down.

"At that time of the Raith Rovers game we were really in trouble and that would probably have given the whole club a lift.

After I missed the penalty - although I've been put right a few times by Raith fans, who say the penalty was saved - because of what was happening, there was a lot of pressure on me and a lot of things were said.

"You have to deal with things and I like to think I dealt with them a reasonable way. We went on to win the Scottish Cup a few months later."

Brown has one of his worst games in a Celtic jersey and McStay did not attempt to hide away from that fact.

He said: "Scott will definitely be hurting – the whole team will be hurting. They have the technical ability but for whatever reason it didn’t work out.

“Given the opportunity it would be so much different the next day.

“For Scott, he has led the team very well. He’s going for five in a row – two for Ronny Deila - and for me Scott has led the way.

“I think he’s a very honest guy and if you asked him how he played on Sunday and how they got on he would answer very truthfully."

McStay starred in many a derby match, he scored in his very first one as a 17-year-old, and his left foot half-volley at Ibrox during the club's centenary season has gone down in Celtic folklore.

He said: "The Celtic-Rangers games create a lot of interest. You see a full Hampden and a great atmosphere.

“It was mentioned what a great game it was. I disagree. As a Celtic fan it wasn’t a great game.

"For a neutral television audience, there was excitement was there, but from a fan point of view I was just disappointed.”