Liam Scales says watching Aberdeen lift the Scottish Cup was hard to take—and it will push Celtic to try and win everything next season. The defender and his teammates decided to stay on the pitch after the final whistle and see the Dons enjoy their moment at Hampden.

Celtic won the league and the League Cup this season, but missing out on the treble hurt. Scales believes the pain of that day will help the squad come back stronger. He said it’s something they don’t want to go through again.

There were no big talking points or bad decisions in the final. Scales admitted Aberdeen won fairly, and the Hoops had no choice but to accept it.

He said: (RecordSport), “That’s the way you’re brought up. If you lose a final you’ve got to show respect. Aberdeen won and it was fair and square. There were no bad decisions. Nothing went against us. They won it fair.

“It wouldn’t bother me if we had won it and another team didn’t stay out. But that’s just the way we are as a team.

“We’ve won a lot. When we don’t win we still need to show respect. That was it. Do we want to go through that again? One hundred percent no.

“When you win you don’t notice how long the trophy lift takes. But when it’s not you, it feels like forever. It’s not a nice feeling.

“We don’t want that again. It’s football. You can’t win every time. But it’ll drive us on.”

Scales played a big part for Celtic towards the end of the season, and he knows what’s expected at the club—and that not winning everything isn’t good enough. He’ll be looking to help drive the team to more success next season.

As the Hoops gets ready for next season, that memory at Hampden will stay with them. Scales is clear—Celtic must make sure they’re the ones lifting trophies next time.

Celtic always aim to win, and players like him know what it means to play for the club. Watching another team celebrate was hard, but it has made them more focused. Next season, the goal is simple—win every trophy and be the team doing the celebrating.