Celtic send direct message to Hearts as title contenders told where they rank in Hoops dressing room thoughts
Celtic cut the gap on Hearts’ lead at the top of the Premiership table.
Luke McCowan has told Hearts exactly what the Celtic dressing room think of their title bid, as the Jambos remain top of the Premiership.
A 1-1 draw was had by Derek McInnes’ side at Tynecastle on Sunday versus Dundee United as the Hoops cut into their advantage in first place by thumping Kilmarnock 4-0. With a game in hand, Celtic now trail Hearts by seven points, but the Jambos remain unbeaten in what has been a solid start to the top flight campaign.
Celtic are still seeking a new manager after Brendan Rodgers’ resignation but the interim appointment of Martin O’Neill has brought three wins from four games. He was at the helm between 2000-2005 and guided the club to a UEFA Cup final, with McCowan in awe of the man who’s also managed the likes of Aston Villa and Sunderland. McCowan has been talking Hearts in the wake of thumping Killie and the former Dundee man insists the Parkhead dressing room can’t afford to be thinking about Hearts with the need to put points on the board themselves.
What do Celtic think of Hearts title challenge?
The midfielder said: “The boys know that we've probably not started the season as well as what we wanted. They can’t be (Hearts in Celtic’s thought process). We can’t get into games hoping that they slip up.
“We just need to go into games where the main focus is us playing well, scoring goals, being the kind of threat we can be, making teams fear coming here. We need to get back into that mantra. The team's in an all right place, winning the semi-final, a couple of games in the league we’ve won.
“The attitude comes from us, the mentality comes from us, so we just need to keep pushing that. I'm sure if we do, we'll keep charging on and hopefully get more positive results. It's Martin O'Neill at the end of the day.
What Martin O’Neill has done for title race
“He's got that aura and brings that motivating factor of what it means to play for this club, as did the previous manager as well. He just brings that different kind of speech before a game and just puts full belief in everybody that's in a squad and is really, really forward to everybody as well. He doesn't make you think anything. He just tells you how it is.
“I'm too scared (to pick O’Neill’s brains)! I'm going to wait. It's too serious at the moment. We're all focusing on games, left, right and centre. There'll be a time for that if they are still about for international break because I'm not going anywhere. I thought I was in a time machine. Even with Jota and Kieran Tierney coming back.
“When Martin O’Neill’s came in, all I could think about was the UEFA Cup final, what did he say in the dressing room? I could just ask Shaun Maloney. But It's been amazing. It's nice to have the gaffer here and what he brought before, he's obviously replicating that again.”