Neil Lennon admitted Dunfermline were “spooked” by Celtic in the Scottish Cup Final as he revealed he urged his players to “be braver and more aggressive” after trailing 2-0 at half-time.
The Pars fell to a 3-1 defeat to the Scottish Premiership champions in the showpiece final at Hampden Park.
An improved second-half display saw the Fife club pull a goal back through Josh Cooper, but the former Hoops boss admitted his side lacked the quality to overcome Martin O’Neill’s double winners.
He said: “I thought we started okay, but once Celtic scored, we got a little bit discombobulated.
“I didn’t think we were brave enough on the ball, and I think mentally we sort of sank a little bit in terms of our running, and our aggression dropped off.
“We were a little bit spooked, so we obviously changed at half-time, and we told them to be braver and play a lot more aggressively.
“To be fair to them, we played particularly well in the second half, and I think we deserved the goal.
“But quality counts, and the quality was with Celtic. We just lacked that quality today.”
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