The build-up to this week’s Scottish Premiership fixtures has been dominated by the ramifications of the matches rather than the matches themselves.
In back-to-back Edinburgh vs Glasgow clashes, Celtic face Hibs at Easter Road on Sunday before Rangers travel to Tynecastle the next day.
In both games, fans are claiming that they want their own teams to lose. Hibs don’t want to do Hearts a favour in the race, nor do fans of the Ibrox side when they go to Tynecastle.
Before a ball is kicked in Gorgie, Martin O’Neill’s men need to take care of a Hibees side who were the last team to beat them in any competition.
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Asked about Hibs fans wanting to win, O’Neill said: “Well, actually, I can maybe understand that, that maybe some Hibs fans wouldn’t want Hearts to win the league.
“But that won’t cross over to their team selection, to the coaching staff, absolutely not, and to the players.
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“In fact, I think they would be more invigorated by the news of that there, so if I could call upon some Hibs fans to refrain from that, that would help!
“But, no, I get it, I understand that, I’m quite sure here it would be something similar for some Celtic fans who might not want their closest rivals to win.”
On playing the day after their title rivals, O’Neill said: “Yeah, I think I said last week, it’s only an advantage if you win, and that was the point.
“So we were able to overcome Falkirk, which was great in that sense, and so there’s a sense as if you’ve done that job for the weekend, and then you just sit back.
“Mostly, up until the Falkirk game, we’ve been the ones playing afterwards and trying to catch up, and I think after we lost at Tannadice, it was a good distance behind.
“So from that viewpoint, it’s only an advantage if you can win, so that’s all we can do. I don’t mean closest in that sense, the ones that are pretty well, not too far away.
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Finally, on the game at Tynecastle on Monday, O’Neill was asked if he’ll be watching.
He replied: “Yeah, yeah. I know that some managers say, oh well don’t bother, they’ll go for a walk or do something. No, I’m glued to it.
“Don’t you worry, I’ll be there. If you’re asking who I’m cheering on, I have no idea. Don’t even ask, I have no idea.
“Depending on how we do, I might, if we don’t win the game or lose the match, that becomes a different thought process, but at the end of it all, yeah, of course I’ll be watching because we have to play those teams.”
Asked if he’ll be cheering Rangers on, he said: “I might not go that far!”
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