Daniel Stendel’s Hearts are due at Celtic Park on Wednesday night as the clubs return to their Premiership duties following a weekend of Scottish Cup action.
However, the German has revealed that he won’t risk players for the game as he admitted that the fixture versus Celtic isn’t as important as Hearts’ game versus Hamilton on Saturday.
Speaking to Hearts TV, Stendel admitted that his side need to be at their best to challenge Celtic but they will take heart from the victory over Rangers at Tynecastle, proving they can cause problems – despite their league position.
“It showed that we can win games against teams from the top of the table.
“We need a really good day but what I can promise is that we will try to win.
“They have the best offence in the league and we need to put them under pressure and we need to take our chances and, if we can do that and defend well, I think we have a good chance.”
Whilst every game is important, Stendel isn’t willing to risk the fitness of John Souttar tomorrow if he is struggling to make it. As reported in the Edinburgh Evening Times, Stendel reinforced what Hearts fans were probably already thinking – that the game versus 11th placed Hamilton is the priority.
“We are doing everything so he can play.
“Wednesday is the goal but, if he cannot play Wednesday and he can play Saturday, then Saturday is the bigger game for us at the moment.”
