‘We have an incredible support,” Rodgers acknowledges the Troops

MURRAYFIELD will play host to the biggest football crowd in Scotland for a generation on Sunday at the sold out Betfred Cup semi-final between holders Celtic and current league leaders Hearts.

The Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers, put aside the disappointment from last night’s 2-0 Europa League defeat in Leipzig to enthuse about playing at the home of Scottish rugby on Sunday.

And for everyone Celtic minded at Murrayfield it will be an opportunity to compare this venue with Hampden, which disappoints in so many aspects – the view, the distance from the park, the pies are the worst in Scotland, the access is rotten and on it goes.

Hearts of course are delighted to be playing just down the road from their Tynecastle home and that plus their impressive start in the league has seem them matching Celtic ticket for ticket so that it will be a genuinely 50/50 split with both sets of fans competing against the other to make the most noise.

Brendan certainly was looking forward to the trip to Edinburgh when he spoke about it today.

“I think it will be a fantastic game,” the Irishman said to the media today.

“Hearts have started the season extremely well in the league and, like ourselves, are now into the semi-final. It should be a great occasion and it’s unique in that it’s at Murrayfield, but it’s a really iconic ground.

“We trained there earlier on in the week and it’s a fantastic stadium, so it should be a wonderful occasion and obviously we’ll look to hopefully get to the final,” Brendan added.

The size of Murrayfield of course is similar to Celtic Park and obviously much bigger than the home ground of any of the other semi-finalists, so the manager reckons that his players will feel right at home in front of a 60k plus crowd.

“It’s what we’re used to as we have an incredible support at home, playing in front of 60,000 people and in a lot of the games, especially the big European games, we travel to those sorts of environments.

“The last few years I’ve been here, we’ve been at Hampden so it’s going to make for a fantastic spectacle, I’m sure. Supporters up here are so passionate about their football and I think over the course of the day, with the two games, we’re hoping it will be a great advert for the game up here.”

The two managers on Sunday have had their arguments over the course of the last couple of seasons – most recently about the ridiculously long Tynecastle grass, which ironically enough caused a serious injury to Levein’s own skipper. There will be no such concerns on Sunday and Celtic will be looking to take full advantage. Rodgers is as respectful as he always is about the opposition, as he noted that they too have suffered from a series of injuries this season.

“Looking at Hearts, Craig’s team still perform very well and I think you always have to cater for when you have injuries, but it always gives someone else an opportunity to come in and that’s your reason for having a really competitive and strong squad.

“So, I think if you look at their results, they’ll be happy and their injuries haven’t really affected their performance level. They had a good win during the week and they’ll arrive at the game confident and looking to do well.”

Celtic trained at Murrayfield before travelling to Germany and Levein’s side have also made the short journey to the rugby ground to train.

“My point before the last game was about having at least the opportunity to train there and have a look at the stadium,” Brendan said.

“Both teams have done that. Of course, they’ve played there a little bit more, but it’s a unique occasion.

“My experience up here of the semi-finals is of a great atmosphere and, of course, we’ve been able to make the finals. So I think it’s going to be a really good occasion. It’s a beautiful stadium, a really iconic stadium. It should be a fantastic atmosphere and we’ll look to, like we always do, try to impose our game and look to play as well as we can.”

About Author

The Celtic Star founder and editor, who has edited numerous Celtic books over the past decade or so including several from Lisbon Lions, Willie Wallace, Tommy Gemmell and Jim Craig. Earliest Celtic memories include a win over East Fife at Celtic Park and the 4-1 League Cup loss to Partick Thistle as a 6 year old. Best game? Easy 4-2, 1979 when Ten Men Won the League. Email editor@thecelticstar.co.uk

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