Daizen Maeda was gifted a present to open the scoring in the first minute of the Scottish Cup semi-final, while Alex Gogic has defended the goalkeeper amid scrutiny.

Following the nightmare opening 15 minutes, Mullen was substituted after he picked up an injury early in the match.

Which granted 17-year-old Grant Tamosevicius his debut in the national stadium during a massive semi-final fixture.

Although rampant Celtic scored five goals in quick succession during the first half of extra-time, Tamosevicius should be proud of his efforts in what was a huge fixture to be thrown into.

After the defeat, some supporters took to social media in anger against Mullen’s error.

However, Gogic voiced his opinions on X in support of Mullen and in letdown of “disgraceful tweets”.

He said: “I have seen some disgraceful tweets about Ryan Mullen after the game yesterday.

“Ryan is a top goalkeeper and gives everything on and off the pitch and by no means did he want to leave the pitch yesterday. Every player makes mistakes it comes with the job and I’ve made plenty.

“Unfortunately for Ryan yesterday he was unable to play on despite persevering at first. He does not deserve any of the negativity or accusations he is getting, it’s disgusting.”

St Mirren are unaware of the severity of Mullen’s injury, and with Shamal George still out, it could leave The Buddies with Tamosevicius as the only option for the five final matches.