Liam Scales claims Celtic are now in the perfect position to attack the remainder of the season following their dramatic Scottish Cup win over Rangers.

Sunday’s triumph on penalties ensured Martin O’Neill’s men emerged unscathed from a taxing run of four away games which saw them pick up three wins and a draw.

Set to face St Mirren in next month’s semi-final, the Parkhead men will first focus on chasing down Premiership leaders Hearts, who they still trail by five points.

Scales, captain at Ibrox in Callum McGregor’s absence, feels the character the squad has shown lately to keep their hopes of silverware alive should be telling.

‘It’s good for confidence, obviously,’ the Irishman said of run encompassing Stuttgart, Aberdeen and two trips to Ibrox. ‘You looked at the four games coming up and you thought we need to take it game by game, but it was a difficult run.

‘It’s good to be out the other side of it. Now we have more time in between games to recover and rest. It’s put us in the perfect position to where we want to be.

Liam Scales reacts with joy after Celtic’s nail-biting penalty shootout victory at Ibrox

‘I think people questioned how we’d get on. The four away games and the 10 days, having to come here twice and have a European game in there as well. I just think that the character is brilliant in our dressing room.

‘We know it’s there. We know maybe the quality — we haven’t got to the levels as consistently as we would like. But the character has got us through games, scoring last-minute goals and keeping a clean sheet today. It’s given us good momentum now to kick on.’

The springboard for Scales’ Celtic career was a man of the match display in a victory at Ibrox three years ago. Having seen the likes of Dane Murray and Benjamin Arthur now contribute to Sunday’s gritty win, he feels the experience can have a similar effect.

‘It’s brilliant because there’s no real game like this. Now the lads have experienced it,’ he added.

‘Next time we have to do it, they’ll have that experience in there. They’ll have experienced what it’s like. It’s hard to explain.

‘The first 10-15 minutes can be a blur. The lads have experienced that now and come through it and done well. It can really help.

‘I think if you can do it here and play well here at Celtic Park in one of these fixtures, you’re well prepared for any game.

Scales takes on Rangers’ Ryan Naderi during what proved to be a forgettable 120 minutes

‘They were brilliant. Benjamin, to come into a game like this — he’s only played a handful of senior games, he’s young, and just to play it the way he did with a cool head…

‘He obviously hasn’t played many games, so he couldn’t finish out the game, but for the time he was on the pitch, he was excellent.

‘Auston’s (Trusty) obviously experienced and played well.

‘For Dane (Murray) to come in, it’s not nice coming off the bench in a game like that. He made some big blocks, big headers. I think all three of them did.

‘It’s hard to pick a best out of the three, they were all just brilliant.’

Viljami Sinisalo was a contender for the man of the match award with the Finn, who played in the 1-1 draw at Ibrox last season, commanding his box throughout.

‘He’s such a calming influence on the team,’ Scales added. ‘I said it to him after the game, I don’t think he knows how much of a relief it is when he comes out and collects a corner the way he does.

‘It takes so much of that threat away. He was brilliant off his line. He came out and cleared a few ones that were dangerous, but it was over the top, things like that.

Celtic goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo gets a lift from defender Dane Murray as Scale celebrates

‘He’s been brilliant. I don’t think he has put a foot wrong and I’m really delighted for him.’

A monumental defensive display by O’Neill’s players kept Rangers at bay, with four clinically taken penalties taking them through to the last four.

Scales lost the toss for the choice of ends but still felt confident that Celtic would prevail.

‘The coin was blue on one side and green on the other, funnily enough, so you didn’t really have a choice,’ he explained.

‘You’re just hoping that it lands on the green side and you get to go down your end, but obviously it didn’t. I still had good confidence in the lads. We practised our penalties.

‘All the lads who stepped up were brilliant. Good courage and good technique as well.

‘I was actually the fifth penalty taker as well, so I’m glad it finished up before me, to be fair! It was definitely one of the proudest moments.

‘But again, it’s a quarter-final, we still need to go on and win the semis and win the final for it to be worthwhile.’