- Defending champions head to Easter road on Sunday looking to move level on points with Hearts at the top of the table
- Some Hibs fans would gladly see their team lose this weekend, such is their desire to see the Jambos’ title charge collapse
- O’Neill says it’s an ‘impossibility’ that Hibs players would purposely give anything less than 100 per cent
Martin O’Neill has dismissed any suggestions that Hibs players might make life easy for Celtic to prevent Hearts from winning the title.
A victory for Derek McInnes’ men in last weekend’s Edinburgh derby shortened the odds on them being crowned Scottish champions for the first time since 1960.
The prospect of their greatest rivals creating history has led to some Hibs fans hoping for once that their side lose to Celtic tomorrow afternoon.
But while O’Neill fully understands the sentiment of rival supporters, he’s certain that David Gray’s players will be going all out for the win as they seek to overtake Motherwell in fourth place.
Martin O’Neill is expecting a stiff test at Easter Road tomorrow afternoon
‘I imagine the Hibs fans wouldn’t want Hearts to win the league. I think that would be kind of natural,’ he said. ‘But asking people to throw the game, that’s just an impossibility.
‘I know the young manager at Hibs, he’d be wanting to beat us again. He absolutely beat us before, so he’d be thinking there’s no reason not to.
‘Seriously, it wouldn’t enter the players’ heads.’
O’Neill is adamant he’ll be able to say the same thing for his players in the coming fortnight — even if a win of their own for once might not be what all Celtic fans are looking for.
‘Let’s say we were out of it by the final game and Rangers are really in it, we’d still want to beat Hearts,’ he added.
Despite the bizarre air surrounding the game at Easter Road, O’Neill is confident that his players are only anticipating the sternest of tests.
On the suggestion that his team may face an easier game, he said: ‘It’s not in the players’ heads. They honestly wouldn’t even mention that and they wouldn’t know. They genuinely wouldn’t know. We have to be at it. Really, really at it.
‘We’re not good enough to treat any game like that.’
After a turbulent season, O’Neill is approaching the match with the side in better form having chalked up four straight wins.
‘With players returning and the gap to Hearts just three points, the Parkhead boss admitted that last week’s win over Falkirk felt like a significant occasion.
Hibs stunned Celtic with a 2-1 win at Parkhead when the sides faced off in February
Arne Engels enjoyed his first 90 minutes since February, with Alistair Johnston also returning to the fold from the bench after a six-month absence.
‘It was really great to see him on the pitch,’ O’Neill said of the Canadian full-back. ‘We’ve got about 20 minutes from him and it’s good. And he’s had this week as well.
‘So, he’s in contention, which is great. It would be just brilliant to have him back.
‘I’ve been watching some of the matches that he’s played at times and he’s not unfamiliar to me in that sense.
‘But to watch a player when you’re actually there on the sideline, it’s a totally different issue. He’s a proper player.’
