Cameron Carter-Vickers’ season is over after delaying surgery for cup semi-final

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou revealed Cameron Carter-Vickers would not feature again this season after playing through the pain barrier to help the team into the Scottish Cup final with an outstanding display against Rangers.

The central defender is set to undergo knee surgery but delayed the medical treatment to ensure Celtic stayed well on course for the treble.

The United States international and centre-back partner Carl Starfelt impressed as Rangers put Celtic under sustained pressure in the second half as they chased an equaliser following Jota’s headed opener three minutes before half-time.

The pair were first to the vast majority of balls into the Celtic box and Cameron-Vickers cleared off the line from Fashion Sakala as a 1-0 victory set up a Hampden return against Inverness on June 3.

On the former Tottenham defender, Postecoglou said: “He hasn’t put a foot wrong since we signed him. He has been outstanding.

“Him and Carl as a partnership, I could be wrong but they still haven’t lost domestically. They are an outstanding pair, they really work hard together.

“Cameron again keeps growing as a player and as a leader within the group.

“That’s his last game for us, he needs to get his injury looked at now, so that will be him for the season. But he wanted to play.

“I was trying to push him to have it done a bit earlier but I’m scared of him so I just let him do what he wants. He was keen to play and he put in a performance that befits his standing at our football club. It’s a credit to him.”

Postecoglou’s mantra at Celtic has been “we never stop” and the approach reaped dividends for the only goal.

Rangers collectively waited for the referee’s whistle after Nicolas Raskin body-checked Matt O’Riley but Don Robertson played on and Daizen Maeda nipped in front of Borna Barisic before whipping in a cross for the unmarked Jota to head home.

“That’s what we do,” Postecoglou said. “It shouldn’t surprise anyone. We don’t stop. You can talk about mistakes but we instigate mistakes because the boys are relentless in their pressure. They never switch off and then we have the quality to capitalise.

“We are alert when we needed to be and when the ball comes across and our winger is where we should be. That’s not by accident, all those things we have been doing consistently.

“It’s credit to the group they maintain their discipline even in a game where emotions are running high and it’s very easy to get sucked into the atmosphere. But we stayed clear-headed.”

Rangers hit the post through James Tavernier but Postecoglou felt his side had earned their place in the final.

“We had chances as well,” he said. “I get the narrative, we’ll be lucky again, but that’s all right, we will just keep winning games of football.

“We defended really well. There were a lot of balls coming into the box and the two centre-halves were outstanding.

“The work-rate of our front players…I mean Daizen Maeda was incredible, particularly in the first half. You have to earn these things and I was really pleased this team showed they can be resilient as well as playing football we know they can.”

Alistair Johnston could also be facing a lay-off after suffering a lower-leg injury while making a strong challenge on Barisic.

“It was a sore one,” Postecoglou said. “He wouldn’t come off unless it was a significant one. We will wait and see, he was throwing the crutches around at the end of the game so I am sure he will feel it (on Monday) but we will see how it goes.”