STEVEN PRESSLEY today warned anyone who might try to knock the Celtic bandwagon off its tracks: You can count us down - but never count us out.

Elvis led by example with the equalising goal at Inverness yesterday, just two minutes before the Parkhead side were about to exit from the Scottish Cup.

Three minutes later, they were through to Thursday's draw for the semi-finals after Kenny Miller completed the smash-and-grab which left Caley Thistle gutted.

Pressley could not have picked a better time to score his first goal for the club he joined in January, and revealed that an inspirational half-time talk from manager Gordon Strachan laid the foundations for this latest dramatic fightback.

He said: "There was the thought in the back of your mind that it might not be our day. But when you play for this club, there's always that belief you've got players within the team who can make the difference.

"However, the manager told us at half-time not to look to others to make the difference, but instead we all had to make the difference.

"Those were very important words before we went out for the second half."

Pressley vehemently rejected the suggestion that Celtic struggled because too many of their players were below par in one afternoon.

He added: "I didn't think that was the case," he responded in a steely tone. "I thought we played pretty well, better than we did when we won at Inverness at the end of last month.

"It was a very difficult game, but we controlled possession for long periods. Okay, we did not manage to carve out too many openings. But we passed the ball exceptionally well.

"And I think we would have been way ahead in the possession count, which says a lot for a team playing at Inverness.

"With Caley getting the opening goal, they tried to sit in and defend that. And they are a very good side, extremely well organised.

"But we've proved the reason this club has been so successful over the years is because there is a belief and a spirit within the team that we will never be beaten.

"I have to say, however, I wasn't fully aware of just how close we were to full-time when I equalised. But I was aware we were in the closing minutes.

"It was a good ball in from Shunsuke Nakamura, then a great header from Stephen McManus and I managed to find myself a little bit of space in the box and got a glance on the ball.

"It was my first goal for the club, and, of course, I was delighted.

"But I was even more delighted for Kenny Miller because he worked extremely hard for the team and played very well. So it was just reward that he got the winner."

Miller fought tooth pain and being heavily outnumbered to come through at the very end.

And Pressley reckons Celtic deserve credit for the way they constantly altered their shape and system to find a way through the packed Caley midfield and defence.

The fact injury deprived them of important potential match-winners, including Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, Maciej Zurawski and Craig Beattie, made the achievement all the more laudable to Pressley's experienced eye.

He said: "There were some different tactics and formations from us, but you have to consider the personnel available to us.

"Without a doubt, in the striking areas, there was a shortage because of injuries.

"The manager may have been forced into the decision he made with regard to the line up, but he worked on it during the week and I thought it worked well."

Pressley emphasised the point that Celtic managed to fight to the very end, despite having contested a tough Champions League tie against AC Milan just five days earlier.

"Sometimes on the back of big European nights, these are very difficult games for which to get yourself back, ready and focused," he explained.

"I didn't play on Tuesday against Milan, but you have to give enormous credit to the lads who did and who then performed at Inverness.

"Tuesday took so much out of them, not just physically but mentally. And for them to contribute in the manner they did yesterday means they deserve enormous credit."