Hearts boss confirms first-team trio set for injury return vs Celtic

By Lewis Laird

May 6, 2022

Hearts manager Robbie Neilson has confirmed that first-team trio John Souttar, Cammy Devlin and Michael Smith have all made a return to training ahead of their trip to Celtic Park.

Ange Postecoglou and his squad will be looking to go within just one point of the Premiership title tomorrow afternoon as the Edinburgh side travel to Glasgow for the early weekend kick-off.

However, it is unlikely to be an easy task for the Hoops, with each of the four previous meetings between the sides this season all ending in just a one-goal deficit.

Having secured a third-placed finish in the league and European group stage football for next season, the pressure is very much off Hearts tomorrow as they look to end the season strongly.

However, this injury news will come as a big boost for the Hearts boss, with a Scottish Cup final coming later this month.

Both Devlin and Souttar have been out of action since April, so they could be looking to use this weekend’s game as an opportunity to build up their fitness.

On the other hand, Michael Smith has been out since Hearts last faced Ange Postecoglou’s side, coming off in the 2-1 victory at Tynecastle back in January.

The last fixture between the two sides at Celtic Park was a highly controversial game, with most of the post-match talk being about Kyogo Furuhashi’s winner, which ended up being the game’s only goal.

As previously mentioned, fixtures between Celtic and Hearts this season have all been close in terms of the scoreline.

However, this is arguably the strongest squad that Ange Postecoglou has had when taking on the Tynecastle side this campaign.

It should prove to be an entertaining game at Celtic Park, which will hopefully end in celebration for the Hoops’ support.

In other news, Ange Postecoglou explains why Hearts are so ‘dangerous’ for Celtic this weekend.