IT’S much easier to glance on the pains of the past when you are currently basking in the glories of the present.

Sitting in the comfort of Lennoxtown with a place in next month’s Betfred Cup final already securely tucked away, Erik Sviatchenko allowed his mind to drift back to a date at Hampden in April and a game that provided a brief highlight on an otherwise sobering afternoon.

On that occasion on April 17, the Danish centre-half netted his first goal for Celtic that sent his side into extra-time against rivals Rangers in a Scottish Cup semi-final.

It was a header beyond Wes Foderingham that could have led to a memorable afternoon for Sviatchenko and his team-mates. But, by his own admission, it turned into a defeat that saw those in green and white out on their feet as Rangers edged them out on penalties.

It was the same stage and same protagonists on Sunday, but the plot line and late twist was very different.

“We showed we were able to maintain the physicality that needs to be maintained,” said Sviatchenko. “Compared to the game that we played last season at Hampden against Rangers, when we were struggling after 60 minutes, we were much better.

“We just kept going. In the end, we got the late winner. It was good.”

It was Moussa Dembele’s cheeky backheel flick that earned Celtic the bragging rights at the weekend, but Sviatchenko reckons it is his team’s improved fitness that really made the difference.

“To be in physical good shape is just alpha omega in football. You just need to be at the highest level if you want to compete in different tournaments,” he explained.

“We are competing in four tournaments at the moment. If we want to be able to do good things in different tournaments you need to have good physical shape. We proved we had that on Sunday.

“That is a difficult question [to answer why the fitness was lacking back in April]. I can’t answer why. I came in January and I did all I could and all the boys did all they could.

“But sometimes there has to be a change before players can get back their A game. That happened and now everyone is playing their best.”

The polite Dane may not have come out and said that swapping Ronny Deila for Brendan Rodgers is what has transformed Celtic’s fortunes and fitness, but reading between the lines that’s not far off the truth.

Celtic’s margin of victory may have been slender but Sviatchenko was not panicked as the clock on the Hampden scoreboards ticked slowly towards 90 minutes.

The centre-half had the ball in the net himself only for it to be disallowed by Craig Thomson, while Rangers goalkeeper Matt Gilks was inspired as the Hoops continuously knocked on the light blue door in a game with stark contrasts to the one suffered by the green half of Hampden six months ago.

But while Rangers grew in strength as that tie progressed, there was no fear this time around that a suckerpunch was coming.

“I really didn’t feel like it was going the wrong way,” said Sviatchenko. “I just felt that if we had kept on going it would come.

“It wasn’t just me who had that belief, it was the entire 11 players on the pitch.

“We believed we could take the game before it went to extra-time and penalties. Because we were dominant and because we were pushing and pushing and pushing, that is why we were rewarded in the end.”

Celtic had more possession on Sunday than Rangers, three times as many shots, almost three times as many on target and eight corners to their rivals’ one. Despite that, Ibrox boss Mark Warburton said afterwards he believed the gulf between the two Glasgow clubs is not as big as some suggest.

It is a theory Sviatchenko doesn’t share.

“I think he should see the game again maybe once more,” said the 25-year-old. “I think we were much better in all aspects.

“They had maybe two, three, four minutes where they had the ball in the 90 minutes. They are a good team, but throughout the 90 minutes we were the much better team.”

Meanwhile, Sviatchenko revealed yesterday that he has been honoured by his former youth club in his homeland following his landmark move to Celtic in January.

The defender came through the ranks of Danish minnows Sondermarken for a year in 2003 and as a result earned them a bumper development fee with he signed for the Hoops.

As a result, he yesterday Tweeted a picture of the club’s new strip which features a picture of the man himself on the front.

He explained: “It’s two youth clubs and this is one of them, Sondermarken. Their delegation is coming over here next year for a game.

“They sent me a picture of the Under-9s who play in this jersey with me on the front because when I was transferred here they got quite a big home grown fee for a small club.

“It’s just a thank you in some way and it makes me proud because I started there where they are now. It’s quite cool.

“I think it was maybe around £20,000 so for a local club it’s a lot of money. Maybe they can make a new Sviatchenko or something.”