Robbie Neilson has confirmed John Souttar has been the subject of a transfer bid from Rangers in recent days but that the defender is line to feature against Celtic.
Souttar has signed a pre-contract with the Ibrox club and they have attempted to bring him to the club early. He missed a match at the weekend but, predictably, should be available to face the Bhoys.
Neilson has also stated Liam Boyce and Beni Beningime are in line to play against Celtic.
Hearts obviously beat Celtic at Tynecastle on the opening weekend of the season, but even Neilson admits he’ll be facing a drastically different team to that night.
As quoted by Football Scotland, he said today: “John trained today, so he’s getting a bit of treatment on his ankle and I expect him to be available for Wednesday. We had an offer that got knocked back and that’s it done.
“Beni will be available for the game, whether he starts or not we’ll wait and see. He trained the last couple of days and is back to normal. Boyce is fine. We probably could’ve brought him in for the St Johnstone game but the plan all along was to try and get him ready for the cup.
“It was a great one but Celtic have changed quite a bit since then, at the end of the window and also in January, so it will be a different team that rolls up to Tynecastle.
“We know that Celtic are a very good team but we’re in a position now where we’ve got a home game against them and if we pick up three points we go within six of them and it keeps us closer.
“We speak all the time with the players about looking up the way and not looking behind us. If we can aim for the two teams at the top of the league then we don’t need to worry about what’s coming behind.”
It’s certainly going to be a test of Celtic’s current capabilities. Tynecastle is rarely an easy arena for the Bhoys. In the midst of injuries and international call-ups, that’s even more true.
However, if we want to be considered capable of beating Rangers next week then we must beat Hearts.
Three points are absolutely crucial to stay in touching distance at the top of the table, so no excuses.
In other news, Celtic supporter group call out absurd ticket situation; strange sight this Wednesday.
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