‘GREAT SHOUT-OUT,’ HART PRAISES MATES

JOE HART will be looking for a Magnificent Seven when Celtic play St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park in the High Noon showdown on Sunday.

The last time the 35-year-old 75 times-capped England international keeper was required to pick the ball in the net was at Ibrox on January 2 after being beaten by a James Tavernier penalty-kick.

Since then, Hart has shut out Kilmarnock (twice), St Mirren, Morton, Dundee United and Livingston and aims to add the Perth outfit to that list.

NUMBER ONE No.1…Joe Hart acclaims the Celtic fans after Sunday’s 2-0 win over Dundee United at Tannadice.

The experienced shotstopper has brought stability to the defence since his bargain £1million arrival from Spurs in August 2021 after the nightmares of the previous campaign with Vasilis Barkas, Scott Bain and Conor Hazard failing to impress while sharing the netminding duties.

Hart, though, is quick to spread the credit among the players in front of him with Cameron Carter-Vickers and Carl Starfelt dovetailing again while Japanese new Bhoy Yuki Kobayashi and Stephen Welsh are there to provide back-up.

The modest shotstopper, speaking to Celtic TV, said: “We work hard as a team. I think that’s pretty evident with our counter-press when we lose the ball.

“So, we obviously try to keep the ball as far away from our goal as possible and stay alert when that isn’t possible.

“We train as we play. We train hard, we work hard and we want to make it as seamless as we can come game-day.

“With the quality of the players also, I think you’ve got to give a great shout-out to the likes of Yuki, Carl, Welshy and Cam.

“No matter what we plan for and no matter what training we do, they are able to adjust and perform when it come to the big moments.”