Hearts kept the pressure on in the title race after they beat Kilmarnock ahead of Celtic’s trip to Dundee.
Derek McInnes watched his team hammer three goals in at Rugby Park to move five points clear of Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership table.
Brendan Rodgers now knows that nothing but a win will do as the Dens Park kick-off nears and the Celtic manager will remain fully focused on that.
As for McInnes, he appears to be emboldened after Hearts’ latest win and when asked about the upcoming Celtic fixture at Tynecastle, the Hearts manager appears to send the Parkhead club a wee warning.
Hearts boss Derek McInnes’ gutsy shout to Celtic ahead of Tynecastle clash
After the Dundee game, Celtic will play Hearts next Sunday and after refusing to talk about the champions all week, it appears McInnes wanted to get something off his chest.
McInnes told Sky Sports Scotland, “I think every game is important because it’s the same three points.
“A lot of people were asking me, yourself included, about the Celtic game ahead of this game and I understand that, but we had to make sure we dealt with this game.
“This game needed our full attention, and I’m glad we managed to do exactly that. Now we can see where we are in terms of injuries and the like.
“Hopefully got one or two back as well, and be as strong as we can be for that game that comes up. But what a brilliant game to be involved in against Celtic, who are there to be shot at.
“They are the league winners time and time again for a reason, they’ve got so many good players, a really good manager, and it’ll be a test for us.
“There’s been a lot of tests we’ve had, and we just need to try and keep just keep answering up, keep focusing on my performance, and just keep trying to improve ourselves.
“Because everybody’s wanting us to say this and that, but the fight genuinely is with ourselves to keep improving, because if we don’t improve, we won’t get to where we want to get to. And we just want to keep being as competitive as we can be.”
McInnes tells Celtic Tynecastle will be rocking for Hearts game
Whenever Celtic visit Hearts the atmosphere is always red hot but now that McInnes’ team seem to be in a title race, the Tynecastle boss tells Celtic they are in for an ‘outstanding’ atmosphere next Sunday.
McInnes continued, “It better be. I really hope it will be. The way we finished the Hibs game at Tynecastle when we get the winner, I just wish we could bottle that, because the atmosphere then was outstanding.
“I’m sure it will be. I think when Celtic come to town it’s a naturally good atmosphere anyway. But you see the fans today.
“It’s brilliant backing and great for the players to feel that and see it, and especially towards the end. So long may it continue. We know we need to keep winning games for that to maintain it.”
Rodgers will pay no attention to the noise coming out from the Hearts camp and he will have his players fully focused on getting three points from Dundee.
With over 30 games of the season left to go, it’s still too early to say if Hearts can make a proper title bid but they are certainly making a fist of it right now.
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