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 . ’
Josh Meekings was given a retrospective one-match ban for a handball . The incident was n't punished in Deila 's Scottish Cup win over Celtic . The ban , which is being appealed , would rule Meekings out of the Cup final .