The heavyweight Trinidad and Tobago international defender kept John Hartson and the Swede quiet with an inspirational display.

But there was nothing he could do when Gary Bollan kicked out at Jackie McNamara to hand Celtic a penalty with 15 minutes left.

Livingston were down to 10 men and nobody would have backed against Larsson scoring from the spot that is except from Andrews, whose belief in God paid dividends.

He said: ‘‘I thought God had answered my prayers. I never gave up hope because I have faith in him.

‘‘I also had faith in Javier Broto. He was the same keeper that Airdrie had in last season’s Challenge Cup final shoot-out so I knew he was really good at penalties.

‘‘But god answered my prayers and all credit must go to Broto. Credit must go to God first and Broto second because God is always on top.

‘‘If Henrik Larsson was also praying it depends on who believes more and I think I do.’’

But Larsson insisted that he was due to miss a penalty sooner or later after his phenomenal scoring record of last season.

The Swede fired 53 goals in all competition to win the Golden Shoe, but he insisted that he will not be put off from stepping up again from the spot.

Larsson said: ‘‘I’m disappointed not to score, but sometimes they go in sometimes they don’t.

‘‘It’s not the first time that I’ve missed a penalty and it probably won’t be the last. The last one I missed was against Hearts last season.

‘‘It was a tight game and they didn’t give away anything. But as long as the gaffer wants me to take them I’ll carry on. Just sometimes you score and sometimes you don’t.’’

He also denied that the psychological tactics of Broto to delay the kick had unsettled him.

The Spanish goalkeeper came out to question that the ball was on the spot, but the Swede was not fazed.

Larsson added: ‘‘It didn’t bother me. I never looked at the keeper.

‘‘I just went for power and unfortunately the keeper stuck his leg out and I think it went over the crossbar.’’

The result has lifted the confidence of the Livingston players and Andrews revealed that he had secretly set himself a target of winning the Scottish Premier League.

The Almondvale outfit were tipped by many to head straight back down to the First Division after winning promotion last season.

But after victory over Hearts and a draw at Ibrox they now have five points after four games and, with the help of God, they believe they are more than match for the Old Firm.

Andrews said: ‘‘You’ve got to look at the best position you can get and winning the SPL is our ambition.’’

The performance of Jim Leishman and David Hay’s side also impressed the millionaires of Parkhead.

Larsson added: ‘‘They showed good spirit and I wouldn’t expect anything else from a team that had been promoted.

‘‘It’s always going to be hard against Livingston. Although they played in the First Division last year they showed that they had a lot of good players and they had fighting spirit.’’

Celtic must now concentrate on Wednesday’s final Champions League qualifying return leg against Ajax.

The Glasgow side are in the driving seat after winning 3-1 in Holland, but they could be without the injured Johan Mjallby and Joos Valgaeren.

Victory yesterday would have also set them up nicely, but Larsson insists that the goalless draw will not have too much of an effect on their preparations.

He concluded: ‘‘It’s a completely different competition and to get a draw here won’t have any bearing on midweek.’’