Kelechi Iheanacho insists Celtic are ready for Hearts ahead of tomorrow lunchtime’s title-decider showdown.
Celtic’s dramatic late victory over Motherwell has significantly altered the complexion of this season’s title race heading into the final weekend.
Had Kelechi Iheanacho missed his stoppage-time penalty and the match finished level at 2-2, Celtic would still have remained in contention for the title. However, they would have required a three-goal victory over Hearts on Saturday to secure the Scottish Premiership for a fifth consecutive season.
Instead, the last-gasp triumph at Fir Park means Martin O’Neill’s side now only need to defeat Derek McInnes’ men by any scoreline at Celtic Park to be crowned champions.
Now, Iheanacho insists there is little room for complacency against a Hearts side who have been leading the way all season.
“I think it’s a massive moment,” the striker said via TCW. “It will be a massive moment for the club. This season, Hearts has been one of the strongest teams in the league. It’s going to be a very, very difficult game.
“It’s a title challenge game. They’re going to come out with everything to win the title. We need to be ready to face that.”
While many now see Celtic as favourites to lift the trophy, Iheanacho dismissed suggestions the title race has swung decisively in their favour.
“In terms of the writers, what people think, they might think like that,” he said. “But in terms of the football itself, it will be a really, really difficult 90 minutes. So, who comes out on top on Saturday will be the favourite.”
Celtic have not entered the final day of a Premiership campaign with the championship still undecided since 2011, when they required both a win over Motherwell and a Rangers slip-up at Kilmarnock. Rangers ultimately secured the title that season under Walter Smith.
O’Neill himself has experienced painful final-day disappointments during his managerial career at Celtic, but Saturday presents an opportunity to deliver silverware in a direct showdown for the league title. Iheanacho believes Celtic’s mentality and togetherness will be crucial in the decisive encounter.
“It’s going to take us to have this fighting spirit of winning trophies, fighting together as a team, working together as a team to win,” he said.
“We’ve had that all season, so we just take that in on Saturday. It’s like a cup final, so we’ll give everything. And we’re at home, so we have to give everything to win and they’re a very, very strong side.
“Celtic is a very massive club. It’s a big club, so anybody that’s coming to this big club needs to know what the club expects of them.
“It didn’t go well at the middle of the season, but we picked ourselves up and we fight to this day to take it to the final day of the season.
“We’re happy where we are at the moment, and we’ll fight on Saturday to see that we win. It’s very important to have big players in the team at the moment who have won things before.”
Conor Spence
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