As Celtic prepares to continue their Scottish Cup defence against St Mirren this Sunday, midfielder Paulo Bernardo stresses the team’s aim to recapture their pre-winter break form.
The upcoming away tie, set for a 2 pm kickoff, presents the Hoops with an opportunity to replicate their impressive performance from their last visit to Paisley on January 2nd, which saw them secure a 3-0 victory.
Following a late win against Hibernian at Easter Road in midweek, Brendan Rodgers’ side are looking to kick on. The previous encounter with St Mirren at the start of 2024, where Celtic emerged victorious with a dominant display, serves as a benchmark for the kind of performance the team aspires to achieve once again.
Bernardo, who joined Celtic on a season-long loan from Benfica in the summer, was instrumental in securing the three points during their last visit to St Mirren, bagging two assists.
The 22-year-old Portuguese midfielder is eager to face the cup challenge, drawing lessons from past successes while acknowledging the need for continuous improvement.
He told Celtic TV: “We need to look at this game as a new game, but we can also look at the previous game to see what we did well and what wasn’t so good in order to improve and keep going.
“We had a great time before the break and we need to get to those levels again, but with confidence and with playing more games I think we are playing better each game so we just need to keep going.
“At a big club like Celtic we have to win every game we play. At Benfica, it happened too, so in all my youth teams in Benfica, it was like that.
“It’s always good to play and the confidence levels get higher. I think as players we improve much more in the games rather than only training so it’s better for us to play.”
