Celtic set Hearts target as title rivals aim to hit key landmark in time for Rangers meeting
Hearts dropped point at the weekend and don’t play in the midweek fixture card.
Celtic have set their sights on matching Hearts’ Premiership points tally by the time Derek McInnes’ side next kick a ball in anger.
The Jambos have a full week to prepare for a home clash with Livingston after the disappointment of losing against Hibs in the Edinburgh derby. They are not involved in the midweek fixture schedule after moving their game with Falkirk to a free Saturday earlier in December but the rest of the league will be on the pitch, including second-place Celtic.
They will place twice before Hearts next play, against Motherwell at Fir Park on Tuesday and versus Rangers in the early weekend kick-off. After defeating Livi 4-2 at the weekend, midfielder Luke McCowan says matching the 41-point total league leaders Hearts have is their aim, but focus largely remains on performance.
Celtic set point tally ahead of Rangers clash
McCowan said: “We can’t (pass up this opportunity). December and January are when the most important games are in the league. We know the next performance has to be big against a good Motherwell side who have been in form.
“I’m sorry to be robotic but every game you play for Celtic is pivotal. You have seen recently when we went through a bit of a bad run that it was like the end of the world. We just need to stay on top of our performances, keep fighting and we will get there. Of course it would be good to go into next weekend level on points at the top but we need to focus on the performances.”
New Celtic head coach Wilfried Nancy has been under scrutiny for an immediate change to a back three which resulted in four straight losses. They have won back to back games against Aberdeen and Livi where despite a menacing look in attack, Celtic have looked vulnerable in defence, sparking a chaotic scene when the Hoops go to battle.
Celtic style under Wilfried Nancy verdict
McCowan added: “(Conceding goals) is not a concern if you go and outscore teams but you don’t want that to always be the case. You want to be as solid as you can. We need to gel together and make sure it doesn’t happen as much as it has been.
“Playing at Celtic is always risk and reward. We play like no other team in the league. We invite teams on and play a passing game, the percentages are higher on our side than they are on other teams. That’s the risk and reward of it. If we lose the ball in areas of the pitch, the other team can be in your final third.
“We know that’s the style but it’s about being solid when we have the ball offensively and make sure teams can’t counter. It was a game between two teams who were pretty open, if I’m being honest. That wasn’t the start of the game that we wanted, we want to try to dominate as much as we can, and we didn’t do that. However, it shows the spirit of the players that we fought back.”