text: Ronny Deila has called for Caley Thistle’s Josh Meekings to be spared a Scottish Cup Final ban despite his controversial handball. The Celtic boss admitted the 2-1 Premiership victory at Dundee had helped him bounce back from what he described as the toughest day of his career at Hampden on Sunday. But although his club’s Treble ambitions were shattered as a result of the Meekings’ incident in the semi-final defeat to Inverness, the Norwegian said it would serve no purpose for the defender to be given a retrospective suspension by the SFA. Inverness defender Josh Meekings' arm blocks the ball and prevents a goal to Celtic on Sunday . Meekings has been retrospectively suspended for one match, the punishment he would have got if sent off . The fall-out from the Hampden showdown has been dominated by the failure of the match officials to award a penalty after Meekings blocked a goal-bound effort from Leigh Griffiths with his hand. Caley Thistle will learn today whether they have succeeded in overturning the suspension that compliance officer Tony McGlennan offered earlier this week. And while Celtic have written to the SFA seeking clarity over the pivotal incident, Deila insisted that he hopes Meekings is cleared to line up against Falkirk in the final on May 30. ‘It does not help our situation at all and I do not think that he did it on purpose,’ said the Parkhead manager. ‘It all happened so quickly and it is a clear handball and a red card and a penalty. ‘I don’t think that is right for him to miss that match as you want all the best players to play in the final. I would hope that the ban would be overturned.’ Deila said he was unaware of any response from Hampden to Celtic’s letter but said he can understand the scale of the furore that has erupted this week. FIFA vice president Jim Boyce yesterday waded in to the debate to strongly criticise the SFA’s decision to charge Meekings. ‘It is a huge thing as we are talking about the Treble here and the Scottish cup semi-final when we were 1-0 up,’ added Deila. FIFA's head of referees Jim Boyce says the suspension of a player for an unpunished handball is wrong . Inverness is appealing the ruling that, if upheld, will deny Meekings (right) a place in the Scottish Cup final . ‘I am trying to focus on the next game and we have performed very well since Christmas and we have racked up a lot of wins and points.’ Deila admitted he had hit an all-time low after the 3-2 extra-time defeat to John Hughes’ side last Sunday. But he had his spirits restored at Dens Park last night as goals from Gary Mackay-Steven and Virgil van Dijk secured victory over Dundee, who struck a late consolation through Jim McAlister. The result pushed Celtic closer to the Premiership title as they hold an eight-point lead over Aberdeen with just five games to go. ‘It was the toughest day of my career on Sunday,’ reflected Deila. ‘I have to admit that. It was very tough. Meekings (right) celebrates Inverness's 3-2 win over Celtic in their Scottish Cup semi-final . ‘We really wanted it and we had a very good opportunity there. So Sunday and Monday was very tough. But now it has gone. ‘I just want to keep winning games and to get that league title to Celtic Park. Then we have had a good season. ‘I’m proud of the boys tonight. I told the players that they should be very disappointed but winners bounce back. ‘There is nothing in football for feeling sorry for yourself. Whoever wins the league is the best team. If you win a title you deserve it as you’ve done it over 38 games. In a cup it’s just one game. So the league is always the most important thing. ‘What did I do on Monday? I just stayed at home and I looked at the wall! I watched a bit of TV as well,’ added Deila, who has been linked with a potential move for Belgian Under-21 central defender Brandon Mechele. Meanwhile, Dundee boss Paul Hartley continued the recent referee-related theme by admitting he had been irked by some of Calum Murray’s calls last night. ‘There were a couple of decisions that we weren’t happy with,’ said Hartley, who saw McAlister score what proved a consolation goal in the 87th minute. ‘Some of the decisions were quite bizarre. ‘We understand that they have a tough job in high-pressure games. We had one in the first half and the referee gave offside and the linesman didn’t. He made a mistake and he admitted that to me at half-time. ‘Overall, I thought we were good. We just lacked a little cutting edge. If we had scored the goal 10 or 15 minutes previously we would have had them worried. ‘Two set-pieces have done us in. I thought we worked well, we were well organised and there was good discipline to our performance. Celtic have quality throughout their team.’
target: Josh Meekings was given a retrospective one-match ban for a handball .
  The incident wasn't punished in Inverness's Scottish Cup win over Celtic .
  The ban, which is being appealed, would rule Meekings out of the Cup final .