DEREK MCINNES IS LOOKING FORWARD TO TAKING ON TITLE RIVALS CELTIC
Hearts boss Derek McInnes is confident his team can reaffirm their title credentials heading into tomorrow’s top-of-the-table clash with Celtic.
A stunning start to the season saw the league leaders surge nine points clear of Celtic at one stage just over a month ago.
But the gap has now been wiped out after a dismal run of only one win in their past six games.
Hearts are still top of the table but only on goal difference from the Parkhead side ahead of the clash in Glasgow.
Despite his team losing momentum, McInnes dismissed any suggestion the bubble has burst.
He will remind his players of the 3-1 win over Celtic just over a month ago - and insists they are still in a good place as they prepare to take on a side being led by Wilfried Nancy for the first time.
‘Celtic Park is always a tough game,’ said McInnes, whose side could only draw 1-1 at home to Kilmarnock on Wednesday night.
‘It’s always a game that you look forward to. We’d rather go into it off the back of a win on Wednesday night but, unfortunately, that’s not the case.
‘There will be a wee reminder to the players of how good we were at Tynecastle against Celtic and what we did right in that game.
‘There’s things here that we can fix. We’re not in a bad place. We could do with getting one or two players back to where they were earlier in the season, clearly, but that’s what a season’s for.
‘There’s peaks and troughs with every player. We just need that wee bit more consistency at times and quality in the final third.
‘I think when we got the consistency of selection, we got the consistency of results. We got some good results but, once injuries come and different ways of playing, you’ve got to consider everything.’
Nancy was appointed Celtic manager on a two-and-a-half year deal earlier this week.
He was renowned for playing with a back three during his time in the MLS with Columbus Crew and developed an attacking style of play.
It’s a system that may well take some time to implement, with McInnes admitting that Hearts need to go into the game with an open mind in terms of what they will face.
‘We had spoken about that this morning,’ he added. ‘We’ve got a handle of how he [Nancy] plays. We’ve got a few games to watch. But how he changes, I don’t know.
‘He’s certainly got a real shape that he wants to play, which is different to the shape Celtic currently play. Whether he can impart that over a couple of days, who knows.
‘I was kind of hoping he would be in charge for Wednesday night, so I’d have a better idea if he was going to change it. But we need to kind of wait and see. We’ll find out Sunday.’
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