Ange Postecoglou has named his Celtic side to face Hearts in the first of TWO meetings this week.
Robbie Neilson and his Jambos are in Glasgow as the duo battle it out under the lights at Parkhead in the Premiership this evening with a big three points on offer. Both clubs will be eyeing victory for completely different reasons with the Hoops looking to maintain their gap over Rangers and relentless charge for the title while the Gorgie outfit want to secure third spot and Europe.
Following tonight's meeting, they will do it all again on Saturday lunchtime at Tynecastle but this time in the Scottish Cup. A semi-final place and a date at Hampden is on offer to the winner of that one, but tonight will be at the forefront of the players, management and supporters' minds before thoughts turn towards the weekend.
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Speaking ahead of this one , Postecoglou said: “It’s one of the quirks of Scottish football that [double-headers] happen more often than it does in other leagues. We had it with Kilmarnock in the league and League Cup semi-final back-to-back.
“We treat every challenge separately because if you fall into the trap of lumping these two games together then I don’t think that works.
“We know league games are different to cup games and playing at home is different to playing away, particularly at Tynecastle.
'So even though we’re playing the same opposition we’re preparing for two different games but our focus is on this first game.'
“It will be a good challenge against a good side and since I’ve been here they’ve been consistently in third position.
“They’ve had European football which has helped their players in terms of growth. They have a stronger squad this year and with all of that, we know it will be a good contest for us. But our form has been consistent and we want to continue that.”
CELTIC XI: Hart, Ralston, Carter-Vickers, Starfelt, Bernabei, McGregor, Mooy, O'Riley, Abada, Maeda, Kyogo
Subs: Bain, Johnston, Haksabanovic, Turnbull, Jota, Kobayashi, Oh, Iwata, Hatate
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