TIME TO MAKE KINGS RIGHT

Stephen refuses to dwell on the agony of his cup final shoot-out miss and aims for Hampden redemption this time round

- GORDON PARKS

STEPHEN KINGSLEY admits the scars from being a Scottish Cup penalty shoot-out sinner are never far from the surface when he takes stock of his career.

The image of burying his head in his hands after Celtic keeper Conor Hazard clawed away his attempt remains fresh.

A 3-3 draw at Hampden in December 2020 went the distance as the Hoops lifted the trophy after spot-kicks drama.

But Kingsley believes he can take a step towards redemption this afternoon. He said: "It's something you're going to carry for the rest of your life in terms of what might have been. But you can't really think like that.

"It's happened, it's gone and if you think about it, it's always going to be disappointing. But if you get hung up on every disappointment in football no one will have a career because there will be low points in every career.

"It was the previous season's Scottish Cup Final due to Covid. I'd just arrived then a couple of weeks later we're playing Hibs in the closed-door semi-final at Hampden.

"For myself it's always going to be disappointing to look back on having missed my penalty.

But I think outside of that you can look back and know you gave absolutely everything you had.

"When it gets to that stage tiredness can kick in and it's unfortunate how it ended."