Darren Dods has been around and is going to use his experience to guide his youthful collegues tomorrow against Celtic
He said: "After two shocks against Rangers and Dundee United, Celtic will know what we are all about so it will be even harder this time. And they have had 12 straight SPL wins in a row so it will be a difficult task. We would have been better playing them at the start of November, that was the time to get them. But they are flying just now. They have put that great run together and everyone seems to be fit and playing well so it's maybe the wrong time. We need them to have an off-day or something like that. But it's great to get there. I think we started the tournament in July so it has taken us six months to get to this stage. So you never know, we will see what happens on Sunday."
The Bairns' squad includes youngsters Craig Sibbald (16), Jay Fulton (17), Blair Alston (19) and Murray Wallace (19), but Dods believes that their inexperience may be a benefit rather than a hindrance against the strongly-fancied Parkhead men. Dods said: "I will try to pass on my experience but because they are so young, they have no fear. They have always stepped up the challenge so far. I thought their form would dip or they would get tired but they have kept it going. Hopefully they can do that on Sunday. When I came here in the summer I wasn't expecting anything like this. I just wanted to play. But we are in the semi-final of the League Cup, still in the Scottish Cup and second in the league so it couldn't have gone any better than this. I have only taken part in one game at Hampden, against Raith Rovers in a semi-final. The other semi-finals I have played in for Dundee United and St Johnstone have been at neutral venues. So it will be good to go there on Sunday."
