JOE HART has scoffed at the notion Celtic have the advantage going into Sunday’s Scottish Cup semi-final because their opponents were forced to play extra-time last night.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side were taken to an additional half-hour before they finally sealed a 3-2 aggregate win over nine-man Sporting Braga in the Europa League quarter-final at Ibrox last night.
There have been suggestions the match may have drained the energy from the Govan players, but the 75 times-capped England international insists it will not make a difference when it comes to the teams locking horns at the national stadium for a place in the grand finale on May 21.
HART STOPPER…Joe Hart holds the League Cup after the 2-1 win over Hibs in December.
Asked if the situation will help the Hoops’ cause, Hart replied: “Not really because we’ve done Sunday to Thursday and we felt good going into either of those games.
“They’re professional athletes – they’re built to play twice a week just like we are. I’m sure they’ll be prepared as they need to be.”
Hart, who arrived in Glasgow in a £1million three-year deal from Spurs in August and won his first medal in the Premier Sports League Cup triumph over Hibs four months later, is determined to play his part in guiding the team to their fifth domestic silverware clean sweep in six years.
GETTING DOWN TO IT…Joe Hart goes through a training routine.
The 34-year-old netminder, speaking to Celtic TV, added: “It’s an important game, every game is huge. There’s a lot of implications to all the matches we are taking part in, so Sunday’s no different.
“We are just trying to win each game as we go. That’s been the process from the moment we got here at the start of the season. A lot of us getting to the club, obviously the manager coming to the club and that’s been the message.
“And I think the manager has made the point, it’s not to win the game. It’s to stamp our football on the match.
“Our intensity and the kind of energy we want to bring to the football field and we feel that’s enough to put us in a good place.”
