Joe Hart spoke to the media today ahead of Monday night’s Scottish Cup Final at Tannadice against Dundee United. The Celtic Star and Glasgow is Green Podcast took part – representing the Celtic fan media – with this Joe Hart media event and the subsequent one featuring the Celtic Manager Ange Postecoglou…

Here’s what happened when the Celtic goalkeeper spoke to the media earlier today….

What kind of game are you expecting from Dundee United? Joe Hart: Tough game. Quarter-final of any cup you’re getting to the real business end. I’ve only been there once before, and we had to play really, really well, to get the result that we got. You know, they’ve proved a tough test in the home games as well. So it’s going to be a difficult night, but something that we’re looking forward to.

You’ve had a bit of an extended break, has it been nice to kind of recharge the batteries and have a little bit longer on the training field? Joe Hart: It’s been pretty alien to us actually. It’s the first week – that’s the non-international weeks obviously for the guys who don’t represent their countries – that we’ve had no midweek game. So it’s something new to us but, you know, the manager made it very clear that it’s a great moment for us to get some some some good yards under our belt. We’ve trained hard, and we’re going to be prepared.

Callum McGregor & Joe Hart applaud the Celtic support after the win over St Mirren on 2 March 2022 (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Trophy in the bag, you’re sitting pretty at the top of the league. I just wondered how realistic a target is all three trophies? Joe Hart: Look, you know, we play to win. So obviously, if you do the maths with that then that puts us in a good place but it’s not quite that simple. It’s been proven many times. We’re playing Dundee United on Monday who have every intention of winning the trophy. So that’s something that we really need to take care of, something we’re really focused on. And for us to you know, to keep the cup competition alive we can only afford to focus on Monday.

You touched on United there – you’ve had a couple of close games at Celtic Park then a more comfortable one at Tannadice… what have you made of them? Joe Hart: I’d say it wasn’t comfortable. It was down to us playing exceptionally well. They’re a tough nut to crack, they’re threatening on the break. Yeah, it’s a tough game and like I say the only time that we got a more than one goal win was when it was down to playing really, really well. So we’re going to have to bring that same sort of energy in that same sort of conviction on Monday.

You’re entering the kind of home straight of your first season in Scottish football. Now that you’ve been up here for a little while, what have you made of it? Is it what you thought it was going to be? Joe Hart: I don’t really, I’m too long in the game now to really have any thoughts of what anything is. I live in the moment, I work hard with the team that I’m in. You know, we’re working hard as a group. You know, we’ve got a good understanding. We’ve got a good team and group mentality. And I’m really enjoying being part of that. I’m really enjoying being part of that and having a focus every day and something to really train for and work for.

Obviously, when you signed for the club you’re coming to a club looking to win trophies – you’ve won one trophy already. If you look at it, you could be on the brink of having a really special season. I mean, do you feel you’re part of a squad that could go on and achieve something really special this season? Joe Hart: I don’t think you can afford to think like that. I think the only time I think if you interviewed or spoke to anyone who’s achieved those feats, that you’re referring to there, that every single one of them will say that the only way that those were achieved was living in the moment and focusing on every game because the moment you start looking too far ahead – in life, not just in football – things, things can come at you hard.

We’ve still got some good training days before the game that I need to focus on before I even focus on the game. So you know, I think I think the clear message that we have here is that nothing’s going to be given to us and we’d like it that way.

You’ve won cups before at previous clubs… do you relish using your experience on tough nights like this, away from home in a cup quarter-final? Joe Hart: I just love playing football. I love being involved in competitions and love being part of this group that I’m part of right now. And I include the fans in that group because away games are a lot of fun at this club as well as home games.

But they’re really fun when we perform and I’d say the majority of the time we’ve really shown up this year even in results and games that we haven’t won. I think we’ve had strong showings and so that consistency is something that I’m enjoying being a part of, and I’m hoping to continue.

You say you love playing football. Is this the kind of game that you love that you relish: Monday night, under the lights, gonna be cracking atmosphere? Joe Hart: Yeah, yeah, definitely. Because, you know, the deep, deep down at the bottom of it. I’m just a guy who loves to play football. I would play it in front of nobody. So the fact that we get the opportunity to do it when there’s a lot on the line, under lights with a good atmosphere. Tough team. It’s it’s going to be a good night hopefully.

How serious were the cup competitions taken down south? Joe Hart: Very, especially when you come to the latter ends. It’s tough at the start for a lot of teams if you don’t have a big squad. I’ve been involved right down from the bottom where I’ve been in the Conference where you have to qualify for the FA Cup and obviously if you’re not in the top two leagues, then you don’t even qualify for the League Cup.

So I’ve seen all ends, but I know that in any of them the higher you go, the more intense it gets and the more serious it gets because you’ve got the opportunity to bring somewhere to your club. And that’s where we’re at right now in a quarter-final.

I guess you see it winning the cup, on the final day of the season would be a great way to end any season? Joe Hart: Yeah, yeah, simple as that. Of course it is it’s but as I’m well aware of there’s eight teams with that dream. Eight teams with exactly the same dream as us who intend to do to do what you just said there. So there’s nothing that’s gonna be given to us and if we are to be there on that final day. It’ll be down to focusing on each game and taking them each as they come and working hard.

Cup competitions take you away from the league for a short time – is there a different kind of excitement the players get going into these games? Joe Hart: It’s the same, we focus the same. Honestly, it sounds like a boring answer and I’m not saying it as ‘we just treat it as another game’ because we don’t (but) every game is huge and every game is an opportunity for us to really show what we can do to impose ourselves on the game, to get better. We’re learning as a group and Monday is no different.

Your manager speaking earlier in the week about Callum McGregor and his daily playing through the pain barrier with the mask… how does he stack up against other captains that you’ve played under? Joe Hart:He’s been exceptional? I’ve loved working with Cal from the moment I stepped in. He made me feel welcome. You know, I think it’s easy to look at someone I was I’m 34 years old. I’ve been around. But at the end of the day when you come into a new environment, you still need welcoming faces.

You still need people to have an interest in you. From a personal point of view that’s all come really natural to him. And I don’t think should take that for granted. I know for a fact, from speaking to people, he had huge shoes to fill. And he’s done the right thing. He hasn’t tried to fill the shoes. He’s going about it in his own way. I think his love and passion for the club is very important in that and, yeah, (he’s) someone that I really enjoy working with and we don’t take for granted in this group.

CELTIC FAN MEDIA QUESTIONS FROM GLASGOW IS GREEN PODCAST & THE CELTIC STAR….

Glasgow is Green Podcast: This game could go to a penalty shoot-out, are you going to be doing extra practice for that this week? Joe Hart: Yeah, we take everything into account. We’ve done that in all the cup games. There’s only so much you can do obviously but anything we can do to make people feel as comfortable as they can if that moment does come we will do.

Glasgow is Green Podcast: You’re part of the defence that has got the best way record in Scotland so far this season. How impressed have you been by the likes of Carl Starfelt and Cameron Carter-Vickers in front of you? Joe Hart: I’ve been really impressed. You know, we’ve all kind of been banded together. We’ve literally come together for this season under great guidance from the coach and the management. I think we’ve all got similar beliefs in how we want to play and how we want to support each other.

And I think as a group, you know, Carl, Cam, all of the guys… Greggy (Taylor), Tony (Ralston), Josip (Juranovic), Welshy (Stephen Welsh), big Chrissy Jullien’s coming back, even Nir Bitton has stepped in and done a great job when required. So I think that’s the mentality that we’ve got in place. You know, we work every day like we’re going to play whether we’re playing or not. I think that’s helped when people have stepped in.

19th December 2021; Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland; Scottish League Cup final, Hibernian versus Celtic: Joe Hart of Celtic celebrates with the trophy

The Celtic Star: You mentioned that the team will approach Monday in the same way as normal, but for Dundee United it’s a cup tie so they might be a bit more offensive than you’re used to. So do you think that may give you more opportunities to get in behind? Joe Hart: We’ll be prepared for us to play our best game. I think that’s the beauty of how we’re doing things this year under this manager. He’s very much, you know, we will train the same for anyone. But also there’s plenty of wiggle room for that in terms of how the opposition is going to play is how we’re going to try and expose them and also how we’re going to defend against them.

So yeah, I think if we can really impose our game strongly on Dundee United, then it’s going to be difficult for them but as you mentioned they’ve you know, got a little bit less to lose in terms of it’s not going to affect their league position with points. But it’s a cup game so we’re gonna play it, we live in the moment of the game and we’ll adjust and do our best to come out on top.

The Celtic Star: You played against Scott Brown for England v Scotland, what’s your assessment of his career as a footballer and going against him? Joe Hart: I think I’m the least qualified in this media group, in this training ground, to really comment on him. I’ve heard nothing but exceptional things about him as a person, which is the most important thing. Obviously, from my short experiences with him: a real tough character to play against, a real winner. But like I say there’ll be plenty more people qualified to have more of an opinion on him.