Interim Celtic boss Neil Lennon has warned his players to expect a tough test when they face Hearts in the Scottish Cup final on Saturday.
The Hampden Park meeting will be the second between the sides in under a week, with Celtic hosting their Scottish Premiership rivals at Parkhead on Sunday in the final league game of the campaign.
Speaking to the Sunday Post, Lennon said that his team must forget about their opponents’ recent results, with the semi-final win over Inverness their only win in the last seven matches.
“I am not taking one bit of notice of their recent form,” the manager said. “Craig [Levein, Hearts boss] has changed the team a lot over the last few weeks. He is rotating the squad a lot and he is a wily old character.
“He is shrewd, so we are not taking anything for granted, recent form or anything like that. It is all on the day. Can their best be a real threat to us? Absolutely.
“They have had a plethora of injuries to important players – Steven Naismith, John Souttar, Christophe Berra and Uche Ikpeazu – for significant periods of time.”
OPINION
Sunday’s league meeting between Celtic and Hearts is nothing more than a dead rubber for both sides, but one thing it will do is reveal who has the upper hand going into the Scottish Cup final. Yes, there will be weakened teams since both sides are resting key players for the final – Lennon has admitted that himself – but in terms of mind games, both sides will be desperate to get the win today and have a psychological boost going into Saturday’s game. Having said that, if Celtic lost today, you would have to say that they wouldn’t be too fussed. All they are thinking about is completing the treble treble and that will be their main focus. It may be a weakened side for both teams on Sunday, but you can expect a cracking contest at Hampden next weekend. Both sides will be fired up for it; Celtic going for the treble treble, Hearts trying not only to stop them, but to lift the cup too.