Hibernian coach makes statement before facing Celtic

Celtic have gotten past Hibernian quite easily in their previous meetings this season. But one cannot deny that Lee Johnson’s side have shown significant improvement in recent times. Other than the Rangers and Hearts, nobody else has defeated them this year till now. As a result, Ange Postecoglou’s side will need to bring their A-game when the two teams meet at Parkhead this weekend.

It is the last match before the international break as well. Thus, Celtic would surely want to go into that on a high note.

As things stand, they are leading the Premiership title race by nine points, with ten more league games to be played. It goes without saying that that is a significant lead. But at the same time, not one that they can get comfortable with, especially with a couple of Glasgow Derbies still to be played.

Hibernian assistant manager, Jamie McAllister, believes that their team is in a better place now than they were the last time that they visited Parkhead. He told the club’s official website:

"“The lads are in a better place since our last match at Parkhead. As soon as you cross the white line at Parkhead you have to have that strong mentality.“You have to win your individual battles, we need 8, 9 or 10 of our players to be 9/10s, they will have to have a few players not at it, and a little bit of luck will help too.“Whenever get we chances, we have to take them and be clinical. This is a great challenge and we look forward to it.”"

Hibernian coach makes statement before facing Celtic

It will be very interesting to see how this game plays out. Celtic cannot afford to take Hibernian lightly, despite of their convincing wins over them from earlier on in the season.

Hibernian have been resurgent and currently sit at 4th in the table. Thus, there is no room for complacency for Celtic. They must bring their best at the weekend.

If they are able to do that and win the game, they would be guaranteed to go into the international break with at least a nine-point lead over the Rangers, with nine games remaining. That would certainly be the position that they would want to be in. Let’s see how things play out though, and hopefully the Bhoys will bring their A-game this weekend.