Livingston striker Liam Buchanan insists personal pride, as well as a place in the fourth round of the Irn-Bru Cup, was at stake during Saturday’s 5-1 thrashing of Celtic colts.
The 31-year-old admits the prospect of being shown up by an under-20s team was not one he was willing to entertain.
Tommy McIntyre’s Hoops had already seen off Annan Athletic and Cowdenbeath in the competition but a clash against the Lions was a step too far.
Buchanan played a central role in the weekend’s victory by scoring a hat-trick, albeit his third goal was dubious, and was pleased that Livingston dished out a footballing lesson.
He said: “There’s a pride factor there because you definitely don’t want to lose to a colts team.
“It was a professional performance, we showed them respect but we had to bear in mind that we’re Livingston Football Club as well.
“It’s Celtic but they’re an under-20s side and shouldn’t be coming here and dominating games against us. We’ve got to hold our heads up and I think we showed them there is a little bit of a gap.
“I didn’t know too much about them but from speaking to people, they are head and shoulders above a lot of other 20s teams and a lot of those boys will probably go on and play at first team level at Celtic.”
Buchanan netted twice inside nine minutes, including a penalty before Sean Crighton headed in a 17th minute corner.
Danny Mullen added a fourth in the 35th minute before Buchanan claimed his hat-trick five minutes later when his shot ended up in the back of the net, albeit it appeared to ricochet off team-mate Jackson Longridge en route.
All the goals came in the first half and Regan Hendry notched a consolation with a stunning 18-yard drive two minutes before the break.
“It’s a lesson learned and a lesson learned for everyone,” said Celtic coach McIntyre.
