Celtic

Charlotte Cohen
BBC Sport Scotland

Image source, SNS

Celtic manager Martin O'Neill has been speaking to the media before Saturday's title shootout at home to Hearts.

Here are the main points:

• O'Neill is "really looking forward" to the game and says: "We have to win it, Hearts don't, so the advantage is with them in that aspect."

• The Northern Irishman insists his side will "go out all guns blazing to try and win".

• Looking back on the 2-0 defeat at Dundee United in March, when it seemed like Celtic's title chances may be over, O'Neill says: "We've woken up, we're a better side now, a bit more confident about ourselves as well too."

• He admits Celtic "have had things their own way in recent times" but have "shown they're up for the fight".

• O'Neill thinks the narrative around Celtic's controversial penalty winner at Fir Park in midweek has been "magnified because of the occasion".

• The Celtic boss adds: "When you see it again properly it is a penalty. In the wider scheme of things, I think everybody should be looking at this. Throughout Europe we've seen penalties given, and we all think, that wouldn't have happened years ago, it wouldn't have done. It looks very, very harsh. The handball rule should be a major point of discussion in the summertime, to have a look again, to see what they're doing. As the rules stand at this minute, that was a penalty."

• But O'Neill is "not surprised" by the reaction to the decision "because everybody wants Hearts to win. It's really as simple as that".

• On the occasion of Saturday, O'Neill admits "if Hearts win or draw the game, they deserve to win the league" but says "if we can win, then somewhere along the way, I think we deserve to win it".

• He thinks the atmosphere will be "electric" at Parkhead and the "temporarily unified" situation with supporters "has been massive for the side".

• O'Neill adds: "The team has been kept going by the crowd and we'll need that tomorrow."

• When asked where a title win would rank in his Celtic achievements, O'Neill says: "We're not over the line, we're a million miles off it, so I can't deal in something I genuinely don't know what will happen."

• O'Neill feels his team, who have come "roaring back" after the defeat at Tannadice by winning every game, "deserve this opportunity to get to the last match".

• The 74-year-old says there is a "more than a reasonable chance" Saturday will be his final league game in charge of Celtic. "It was a privilege to come back again," he says. "I'd never thought in a million years this could have happened. And so I should actually enjoy it a bit more than I'm doing."

• With the club urging supporters to celebrate reasonably should Celtic win the title, O'Neill echoes the sentiment and stresses "if we were fortunate enough to win I just want people to be safe".

• Team news: O'Neill says the squad is "okay" going into the game.

Charlotte Cohen
BBC Sport Scotland

After an incredible Scottish Premiership season, it all comes down to this Saturday as Celtic host Hearts in a seismic title shootout.

Celtic need to win while Hearts only need a point to be crowned top-flight champions for the first time since 1961 and become the first non-Old Firm winners in 41 years.

The previous meetings between the sides this season make good reading for Hearts fans.

Three different Celtic managers have tried, and failed, to beat the Tynecastle outfit as Martin O'Neill prepares for another attempt, this time with the biggest prize of all at stake.

Here's the story of their previous meetings this term...

26 October: Hearts 3-1 Celtic

Celtic, under Brendan Rodgers, had just suffered their first defeat to Dundee in 37 years and headed to Tynecastle five points behind the league leaders.

Dane Murray fired into his own net to put Hearts ahead inside 10 minutes but Callum McGregor hit back with his first goal of the season.

Alexandros Kyziridis restored Hearts' lead in the second half before Lawrence Shankland converted a spot-kick three minutes later to take all three points.

The defeat ultimately led to Rodgers' resignation the following day and the return of Martin O'Neill for his first interim spell.

7 December: Celtic 1-2 Hearts

Wilfried Nancy, appointed four days earlier, made his Celtic managerial debut - and Hearts spoiled the Frenchman's party.

Claudio Braga robbed Callum McGregor and tucked away the visitors' opener and Oisin McEntee emphatically headed Derek McInnes' side into a 2-0 lead.

Despite 15 shots and over 70 per cent possession, Celtic could only find a late consolation goal through Kieran Tierney.

That victory moved Hearts three points above Celtic, who had a game in hand.

25 January: Hearts 2-2 Celtic

After Nancy's disastrous spell Celtic again turned to O'Neill and he took charge of the most recent meeting between the sides.

Celtic - bidding to cut Hearts' title lead to three points - led through Benjamin Nygren's opener until Stuart Findlay headed the leveller early in the second half.

Hyun-jun Yang had Celtic back in front with half an hour left and it looked like O'Neill was on course for a win - until Auston Trusty's red card with just over 10 to play.

Braga netted a late equaliser to take a point and keep Hearts comfortably ahead in the title race.

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Former Hibs and Celtic midfielder Scott Allan says Derek McInnes and Hearts will relish heading to Parkhead as underdogs with Premiership glory on the line.

Hearts must avoid defeat on Saturday to clinch their first top-flight title in over 60 years, while defending champions Celtic need a win to retain the trophy.

With Celtic at home after winning in dramatic late fashion away to Motherwell on Wednesday night, many observers believe the momentum is with Martin O'Neill's side.

But Allan reckons that will suit McInnes and his Hearts players.

"McInnes will be happy to go there with all the pressure on Celtic," he told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"I don't think you have to overcomplicate it. As long as you defend well and you make them defend, I think there's chances.

"Hearts have the two best strikers in the league in Claudio Braga and Lawrence Shankland, there's no getting away from that, and I do feel they will score goals so it's about how the crowd then reacts.

"Hearts have played Celtic three times this year and Celtic haven't beaten them yet so there is bit of confidence there.

"I think McInnes is going be happy going there with everyone expecting Celtic to win because what a way that would be for Hearts to clinch the title."

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Former Parkhead manager Neil Lennon thinks "everything is in Celtic's favour" heading into Saturday's title decider at home to Hearts.

Kelechi Iheanacho converted a controversial injury-time spot-kick at Fir Park on Wednesday night to secure a vital three points and boost Celtic's hopes of a fifth straight title.

Currently one point behind the long-time leaders, Celtic will be crowned champions with victory, while Hearts only need a draw.

And ex-skipper Lennon, who won 10 trophies across two spells as Celtic boss, thinks the atmosphere in Glasgow's east end could overwhelm Derek McInnes' side on Saturday.

"I've played at Celtic Park with 60,000 fans at fever pitch," he told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"It raises your game 10, 15, 20 per cent. I think it's going to be so difficult for Hearts to come and get a result. All the momentum and everything is in Celtic's favour now."

It's been a turbulent campaign for Celtic who have been dragged back into the title race by interim boss Martin O'Neill.

They've scored 10 goals beyond the 90th minute this season, six of which have been winners.

"They've dug out result after result all season," Lennon added.

"I don't know how many last-minute winners they've had. People say it's luck. It's not luck, they just manage to keep going.

"They've not been brilliant by any means, Hearts have. Hearts have been incredible, Derek McInnes has done a brilliant job.

"Celtic have been far from convincing but it's going to be so difficult for Hearts to get the result they'll be looking for because all the momentum and the demand will be with Celtic."

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Celtic forward Daizen Maeda has been confirmed in Japan's 26-man squad for the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico this summer.

It is Maeda's second consecutive World Cup finals after he made three appearances, scoring once, in the 2022 showpiece as Japan reached the last 16 in Qatar.

The 28-year-old, who has four goals in 27 Japan caps, is aiming to drive Celtic to a domestic double - they face Hearts in a title decider on Saturday and Dunfermline in the Scottish Cup final next weekend - before joining his national squad.

Japan, in Group F, begin their tournament against the Netherlands on 14 June before games against Tunisia on 21 June and Sweden five days later.

Brighton winger Kaoru Mitoma, who has a hamstring injury, has not been named in the squad by Japan manager Hajime Moriyasu.

There is also no place for Celtic midfielder Reo Hatate, who has struggled for form this year and not been called up by Japan for more than a year.

The Scottish FA support referee John Beaton's decision to award a controversial late penalty to Celtic, which was converted to secure the title-chasing Scottish Premiership champions a 3-2 win at Motherwell on Wednesday evening. (The Telegraph), external

Celtic are pursuing a deal for Wolfsberger AC goalkeeper Nikolas Polster. (Sky Sports Austria via Football Insider), external

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• A win for Celtic in this match will crown them Scottish champions for the 56th time – overtaking Rangers (55) for the most of any side. Indeed, Celtic have won the title in 13 of the past 14 seasons, the only exception being 2020-21, when Rangers won it.

• Should Hearts avoid defeat, they will be confirmed as champions. It would be their fifth Scottish top-flight title, the most of any non-Old Firm club, and their first since 1959-60.

• Hearts would be the first non-Old Firm side to win the title since Alex Ferguson's Aberdeen in 1984-85, and would end a run of 40 successive titles won by either Celtic or Rangers.

• Having already beaten Rangers three times and Celtic twice in 2025-26, Hearts could become the first side in Scottish football history to win six games against the two Old Firm clubs in a single league season.

• Celtic are winless in their three league meetings with Hearts this season (D1 L2); the last sides other than Rangers that the Parkhead club failed to beat in a league campaign were both Hearts and Motherwell in 1994-95.

• Including the curtailed 2019-20 campaign, Celtic have only lost their final league game in one of the past 18 seasons (W14 D3), a 1-0 defeat to Aberdeen in 2017-18. In this time, they have played Hearts five times on matchday 38, winning the past four (D1).

• After their 1-0 win over Kilmarnock last season, Hearts could win their final match in back-to-back top-flight campaigns for the first time since 2002-03/2003-04 against Dundee and Motherwell respectively.

• Celtic have won their past six Scottish Premiership matches – their longest run of the season, while no side has yet won seven in a row in the competition in 2025-26. Should Celtic win here, seven wins would be their longest streak to finish a league season with since 2009-10, when they won their final eight in a row – the last of which was against Hearts.

• The top four players in the Premiership this season for points won via their goals are Celtic duo Daizen Maeda (16) and Benjamin Nygren (13), and Hearts pair Lawrence Shankland (12) and Claudio Braga (12). Only Motherwell's Tawanda Maswanhise has scored more goals overall (17) than all four of those players in the competition in 2025-26 (Nygren 16, Shankland 15, Braga 14, Maeda 13).

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"Anybody in my position would be scared of that moment."

Kelechi Iheanacho's calm persona belied heart-thumping fear amid the most intense pressure of reviving Celtic's title hopes.

The striker coolly slotted home a contentious penalty deep into added time at Fir Park to secure a crucial 3-2 victory over Motherwell.

It ensured Martin O'Neill's will win the Premiership title on Saturday if they beat Hearts – rather than having to triumph by three goals.

"You don't want to know what my heart was saying at that moment," said 29-year-old Iheanacho.

"My heartbeat was high. It was really high. I don't know about the fans but my heartbeat was really high.

"It was a pressure moment and I just needed to keep calm and focus and just put it in the back of the net. It was big pressure and a big moment so I'm happy we got through that.

"I think my team-mates fancied me to do that. It's one of the biggest moments in my career.

"The keeper was teasing me a bit but I didn't change my mind. I just kept my cool and went there."

Celtic have not topped the table since September but have now won six successive league games to turn up the pressure on long-time leaders Hearts.

Iheanacho said: "It will be a massive moment for the club. Since this season, Hearts has been one of the strongest teams in the league. It's going to be a very, very difficult game.

"It's a title challenge game. They're going to come out with everything to win the title. We need to be ready to face that.

"It's going to take for us to have this fighting spirit of winning trophies, fighting together as a team, working together as a team to win.

"We've had that all season, so we just take that in on Saturday. It's like a cup final, so we'll give everything."

David Currie
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Former manager Wilfried Nancy has given his first interview since his 33-day Celtic tenure ended in January.

Here are the key points from his chat on the Training Ground Guru podcast:, external

• Despite losing six of eight games and being sacked a month into a two-and-a-half year deal, Nancy describes his time at Celtic as "a beautiful experience".

• "I do my job with passion and I look for players with passion and this club, the fans and the city, we feel it, it's been amazing for that," he said. "Obviously things could have been better, but life is about moments. On refection when I went there it was not a good moment."

• He has "no bad words about my time there", adding: "It's part of my journey. I am at peace with myself with what happened. That's why I can take it in a good way."

• The Frenchman says it is a "a no-brainer that I didn't have enough time" as he was brought in to change the culture. "We had a plan because I also did my due diligence," he said. "My idea was not to change everything but step by step to bring something new but after that the pressure, it's so huge, it happens the way it happens."

• Nancy had "huge" support from the club hierarchy but: "After that it's the results and in our job if you don't get the results it's difficult."

• He wanted to turn off Sky Sports News on club property: "I had discussions with people at the club about it. When you come into a facility the TV is on and you get unconsciously information and pressure and pressure. When results are bad and you come into a safe environment and you get news about the players were not good and the coaches were not good, 'I think you should be doing this', that's why this job is difficult, that's why the safe environment is important."

• Nancy says he was "destroyed" for using a tactics board during games but insists: "I will use it again because it's a tool. Because I am visual and sometimes when there is emotion and pressure it's easier to show we are going to attack like this and sometimes because there's a lack of translation because I'm French it is easier."

• On the Venn diagram from his X account - showing overlap on things that matter and things you can control - that went viral: "I didn't do it on purpose, my wife wasn't happy with me, she said I was trending on Twitter. I just put the image I had on the dressing room at Columbus Crew instead of an emoji on my WhatsApp."

• Ex-Rangers manager Russell Martin has reached out to him: "I respect him as a person but also as a coach. What he did at Southampton was amazing, especially when he was in the Premier league, because I remember games he played in a certain way. He has a way to see football that I like. It's a weird story and a funny story because we were together in Glasgow and didn't succeed over there. It doesn't mean we are good or bad, but that this is part of our journey."

Tino
Fan writer

We can breathe again. We're still in it.

After 96 minutes on at Fir Park on Wednesday night Celtic were all but out of the title reckoning, so it's a huge relief to be back in the mix.

My initial response to the late drama was Auston Trusty had gone down easily, and I was screaming at him to get back up so we could take another throw-in.

But the more the replays were shown, the commentary team were saying "Oh, hold on a minute I think there's a hand here," and so it proved.

The timing, intensity and occasion has magnified everything but it's a penalty and I think it's quite clear. The only guy in the world that really knows is Sam Nicholson.

Derek McInnes has fuelled the narrative that 'everyone's out to get' Hearts. Why would anyone at the SFA want Celtic or Rangers to win it more than Hearts?

Hearts have come so close and they've still got a big shot at it on Saturday, but there's no grand conspiracy here, it's just football playing out.

Hearts' record against Celtic this season is very impressive but that record isn't against Martin O'Neill's Celtic.

O'Neill's Celtic drew 2-2 at Tynecastle and they've now got the chance to get the job done in front of 59,000 Celtic fans, a handful of Hearts fans.

I have confidence in my team. I think Celtic will get the job done on Saturday.

It's been exciting, it's been up and down, it's been horrendous at times for Celtic, but we're somehow still in the mix.

I can't wait until Saturday and I hope the narrative moves on from the handball, it's been and gone. It's now a straight shootout for the title and that's as exciting as anyone could hope it to be.

Tino can be found at The Celtic Exchange, external

The fallout from Celtic's 99th-minute highly contentious penalty winner at Fir Park rumbles on.

With the score tied at 2-2, referee John Beaton, after being sent for an onfield review, judged Motherwell defender Sam Nicholson to have handled the ball inside the box and awarded a spot-kick.

Celtic striker Kelechi Iheanacho converted to keep Martin O'Neill's side one point behind leaders Hearts and take the title race to a final-day showdown between the two at Parkhead.

Former Hearts manager Robbie Neilson told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast: "I think it's the magnitude of the decision, the repercussions of it.

"I think in any other game of the season you probably can't say bad decision but because of the repercussions of it, and what was at stake at that point, at that minute in the game, not just for Hearts but also for Motherwell.

"It wasn't a clear and obvious error by a referee so why is VAR getting involved? That's the big question.

"It's a massive swing in the game and it's a hugely controversial decision. This is a decision that will get talked about for years to come."

Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton wrote on X, external: "Now the dust has settled. The reaction from many high profile people is way over the top.

"John Beaton was advised to go to the monitor and saw that the ball hit the arm in an unnatural position. Bottom line is people would hate to see Celtic win the title again and that is all."

Former Premiership referee Steve Conroy told BBC Radio Scotland: "It's a nonsense to think anybody could say that that was a deliberate attempt at a handball.

"This is an indication of a systemic failure from the SFA in how we deal with VAR. They have not got to grips with it. The same mistakes happen every week, the same officials are making these mistakes."

The Herald football writer Stephen McGowan told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast: "I just think we've jumped through the looking glass with handball rule now.

"You take away the tribalism that surrounds this issue and nobody has a clue what the rule really is and when VAR should be getting involved.

"Can I say definitively that was a handball last night? No. Can I say definitively it was not a handball? No. Can anyone say that with absolute certainty? No. Least of all the officials.

"Therefore you get to the point where you say, should VAR really be getting involved in that? Now I've seen some more angles the ball has struck his hand, but as I say, it is not definitive in any shape or form."

Celtic fans, we asked for your views on Wednesday night's dramatic late win at Motherwell that set up a title decider at home to Hearts on Saturday.

Here's what some of you said:

Albert: What an end for the Scottish Premiership, the title race down to the wire in Glasgow on Saturday after Celtic's resilience v Motherwell. Celtic players must be congratulated for their never-say-die attitude to win the game in the final seconds.

John: My favourite saying this season has been "grinding out results" every week. Yet again this was heart-stopping stuff. But here we are, last game and in our own hands. Just one more grind required. I said previously this would be the best-ever league win if we can do it on Saturday. If they play like they did against Rangers I think we will win the league.

Joe: The ball can hit a head and a hand at the same time. Even if the ball only brushed a fingertip, it is still a handball. Rules are rules. Last I checked elbows to the head are also against the rules. Whether its a dead rubber or a title deciding game. The rules don't change.

Rupert: It feels destined. Every single VAR decision seems to be landing our way, and that's the kind of luck you need to win a title. It's our league now - we are inevitable.

Mike: Many Celtic players too often not good enough. Very frustrating. Motherwell by contrast, playing with intelligence and guile - with players that cost a fraction of ours. Thought Martin O'Neill's subs were poor. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain should have been deployed in a midfield that was crying out for quality.

Ian: I can't believe we've got the chance to win it all at Celtic Park. It's been the season from hell but it could end with Martin O'Neill's finest moment. If we can win on Saturday, it'll be a season like no other.

Bob: The chips are down for Celtic. It's winner takes all on Saturday. Daizen Maeda, Benjamin Nygren, Hyun-jun Yang and James Forrest must all start. Negative Brendan-ball tactics are a guaranteed loser. Whatever happens, it's the end of an era for this team. A complete rebuild is required and the new manager has his work cut out.

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Celtic remain keen on Hibernian midfielder Miguel Chaiwa, but face competition from Genoa, Toulouse and Club Brugge for the 21-year-old's signature. (Rudy Galetti on X), external

Celtic-linked Scotland defender Scott McKenna shook off an injury scare to start Dinamo Zagreb's Croatian Cup final victory over Reijka on Wednesday. (The Herald), external

Read the rest of Thursday's Scottish gossip.