Hearts boss Derek McInnes has revealed he is unsure how Wilfried Nancy will set-up his Celtic side tomorrow afternoon…
The Jambos head to Celtic Park top of the Scottish Premiership table, level on points with the Scottish champions but the Hoops have a game in hand.
Celtic can return to the summit with a victory however there is uncertainty surrounding what system new boss Wilfried Nancy will play and how the players will react to the new manager’s methods.
McInnes’ men convincingly defeated Celtic 3-1 at Tynecastle in late October in what proved to be Brendan Rodgers’ final game as Celtic manager.
Looking ahead to tomorrow afternoon’s visit to Celtic Park, McInnes told the official Hearts website: “There’s no tougher test. I think when we played Celtic a few weeks back here at Tynecastle, we had to play really well to win the game. I thought we were magnificent on the day, but going to Celtic Park at times can be a bit more daunting, a bit more tough.”
“But it’s still the same game, we still want to go and try and make sure we compete. And hopefully, as I say, we can come out on the other end and have a positive result. We feel we’re not losing too many goals at the minute.”
“We’re a team who, I think, have the confidence home and away to go and try and get results. But there’s no doubt, as I said to you before the last game we played Celtic, Celtic are a team, particularly Celtic Park, they ask questions of you and test your organisation. So we’ll need to be really strong on Sunday to get the desired outcome.”
When questioned how he will deal with tactically setting up Nancy, he said: “We’ve done this before, when you play against teams with a new manager. He’s got a set system in place that he likes to play, which is different to the Celtic system that they’ve been playing for a while now.”
“So, whether he changes that in a short space of time, who knows? But we’ll try and pick a team to deal with every eventuality. And we obviously, we always look at the opposition, but we’ve got to try and concentrate on our own work.”
Derek McInnes’ former club Kilmarnock snatched a point at Tynecastle in midweek and this evening take on theRangers at Rugby Park. He’ll be hoping that Killie can get a win this evening to boost his own chances of finishing in the top two.
Conor Spence
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