Neil Lennon did what needed to be done at half-time at Easter Road to get his side through to the Scottish Communities League Cup semi-finals. This included getting James Forrest to get rid of his white boots which did not seem to be working well against Hibs in the first half. Half time saw Celtic losing 1-0 thanks to an own goal by defender Daniel Majstorovic after just four minutes when he could not avoid a shot from Ivan Sproule. With new boots and Lennon's words ringing in his ear Forrest grabbed a double before goals from Anthony Stokes and Gary Hooper saw off a poor Hibs side.
After the game Lennon said: "I told Forrest to change his boots for start. He was playing with these white moulded boots on and he kept hitting the first man, stumbling over the ball and wasn't right in his thinking at all. James is the type of kid you can have a go at and get a positive response and he set the tone for the second half straightaway, he was magnificent. He is a great talent, no doubt about it, he is very quick over five or 10 yards, the physical side is improving and he has a lot of belief in himself. He goes both way with pace, he plays with menace he is a hard man to stop and he will only improve."
Forrest plans to keep Lennon happy by binning his boots. The Scotland international said: "It probably makes him feel better but I was going to change them myself anyway. All the players have different pairs of boots and change them, but they will be binned now."
Lennon was very pleased to see how his side performed in the second half. He said: "I got everything I asked for from the team. That's the semi-final put to bed to January, February and we can concentrate on the league now. We have Hibs at the weekend in the SPL and we won't be complacent but if we play like that we will be hard to stop. It was a poor goal to lose and people switched off and didn't do their jobs properly. We could have been 2-0 down so we have to thank Fraser (Forster) for a great save but the second half was the total opposite - the passing and decision-making, that is the team I know I have got and they produced it. They showed more quality than they did when they came back at Kilmarnock so there was a lot to be pleased about. They should take a lot from the second half. I said to them that it must be a great feeling because you are sensational to watch and I hope they hold on to that feeling and carry it on for the next few months."
Hibs under-performed with individual mistakes and poor decision making contributing to their downfall. Adding to the misery for manager Colin Calderwood was watching as Sproule was sent off by Willie Collum in the 71st minute after picking up the second of two yellow cards for a foul on Mark Wilson. Calderwood had no complaints about the decision, saying: "It was a foul, he caught him going through and in that situation it was always a second yellow and then the red." The Easter Road manager believes the turning point was not Leigh Griffiths' missing a one-on-one chance with Forster just before the break but Forrest's equaliser just minutes into the second half. He said: "A second goal might have given us something more to hang on to but the turning point is their equaliser. The timing of the goal and the way the game just went away from us, we should be able to defend much better and it is as disappointing as it is disturbing. I think we spurned an opportunity for a big result and it is very frustrating."