Defending Champions Head to Easter Road for Crucial Match
The defending champions are heading to Easter Road on Sunday with the goal of moving level on points with Hearts at the top of the table. This match is not just another game on the calendar; it’s a pivotal moment in the Scottish Premiership season.
Some Hibs fans would rather see their team lose this weekend, driven by a desire to see Hearts’ title charge falter. However, Martin O’Neill, the manager of the defending champions, has dismissed any notion that Hibs players might intentionally underperform to aid Celtic’s cause.
O’Neill firmly believes it is an ‘impossibility’ that Hibs players would give anything less than 100 per cent. He acknowledges the sentiment of rival supporters but insists that David Gray’s players will be fully committed to securing a win as they aim to overtake Motherwell in fourth place.
‘I imagine the Hibs fans wouldn’t want Hearts to win the league. I think that would be kind of natural,’ he said. ‘But asking people to throw the game, that’s just an impossibility.
‘I know the young manager at Hibs, he’d be wanting to beat us again. He absolutely beat us before, so he’d be thinking there’s no reason not to.
‘Seriously, it wouldn’t enter the players’ heads.’
O’Neill is confident that his players will maintain this level of commitment even if a win for Celtic might not be what all fans are hoping for. He emphasized that regardless of the situation, the team will always strive to beat their rivals.
‘Let’s say we were out of it by the final game and Rangers are really in it, we’d still want to beat Hearts,’ he added.
Despite the unusual circumstances surrounding the game at Easter Road, O’Neill is confident that his players are focused on the toughest challenge ahead.
On the suggestion that his team may face an easier game, he said: ‘It’s not in the players’ heads. They honestly wouldn’t even mention that and they wouldn’t know. They genuinely wouldn’t know. We have to be at it. Really, really at it.
‘We’re not good enough to treat any game like that.’
After a challenging season, O’Neill is approaching the match with a team in better form, having secured four consecutive wins. The manager admitted that last week’s victory over Falkirk felt significant given the gap to Hearts was just three points.
Arne Engels made his first 90-minute appearance since February, while Alistair Johnston returned to the starting line-up after a six-month absence. O’Neill praised the Canadian full-back’s performance, stating:
‘It was really great to see him on the pitch. We’ve got about 20 minutes from him and it’s good. And he’s had this week as well.
‘So, he’s in contention, which is great. It would be just brilliant to have him back.
‘I’ve been watching some of the matches that he’s played at times and he’s not unfamiliar to me in that sense.
‘But to watch a player when you’re actually there on the sideline, it’s a totally different issue. He’s a proper player.’
