MARTIN O’NEILL is looking on Celtic’s vitally important Premiership encounter against Hearts at Tynecastle on Sunday as a must-win for the champions.
And the interim Hoops boss is expecting his players to respond to the challenge as they did in Italy last night when they were forced to perform with 10 men for over an hour in the 2-2 Europa League draw with Bologna.
It was an exhausting evening for the visitors after Reo Hatate had been red-carded following his second booking in only three minutes.
Ironically, the Japanese midfielder had put O’Neill’s men ahead in just five minutes, but he had been banished to the sidelines by the time Auston Trusty claimed the second in the 40th minute.
THINK IT ABOUT IT…Martin O’Neill has instructions for his players in Bologna.
It was left to Hatate’s team-mates to see the job through in the second-half and, despite conceding twice, they held on for a deserved point which could prove crucial in their bid to qualify for the knock-out stages of the competition where a win over Utrecht in Glasgow next week could prove pivotal.
However, it is the league that is the focus of O’Neill’s attention at the moment as he prepares his troops for Edinburgh where they will attempt to make a dent in their opponents’ six-point advantage.
The Hoops, with Brendan Rodgers and Wilfried Nancy in charge, have lost their previous two encounters against Derek McInnes’ side this season.
O’Neill said: “It’s going to be very big, no question about it. If we get beaten, it’s a long way back for us – it’s a bit of a trek at the minute – so we’ll go out to win the game if we can.
“Tynecastle has a great atmosphere, it’s fiery, and I used to say that, outside of Ibrox, it was the most intimidating place to go. I think it will be a wonderful atmosphere.
“The players are in good spirits, they’ll be up for the game, but this might be a time when substitutions will play their part.”
Czech striker Tomas Cvancara, who sealed a short-term loan deal from Borussia Monchengladbach earlier in the week, is standing by to make his debut at some stage of the game.
O’Neill also revealed Johnny Kenny sustained a calf strain against the Serie A outfit, which is being assessed. On the plus side, Kelechi Iheanacho is back in training after being out with hamstring problems since the Premier Sports League Cup Final loss to St Mirren in mid-December.
READY FOR ACTION…new Bhoy Tomas Cvancara will be in squad for Tynecastle.
The Irishman, speaking to Celtic TV, continued: “Tomas Cvancara trained yesterday with the B team lads and he trained again this morning, so he’s ready to go.
“I wouldn’t want to put too much pressure on him. He’s not going to be the panacea for all our ills and woes, but just let him get settled in.
“I think he’ll make an impact – I hope he does – but, again, I just wouldn’t want to be putting extreme pressure on him to solve all our problems.”
Reflecting one last time on his team’s Italian job, O’Neill added: “The performance was terrific and the result was really fine.
“My own view is that if we had stayed with 11 men, the way we were playing at the time, we might have taken all three points.
“It wasn’t to be and it was backs to the wall, certainly in the second-half, and it was a terrific effort.”
Some of the same spirit will be an essential requirement in the capital at the weekend.
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