Hearts vs Celtic; Scottish Cup Final
Hearts vs Celtic. Scottish Cup Final.
Hampden ParkAttendance49,434.
Hearts vs Celtic preview: Neil Lennon's side aim for historic treble treble
Saturday 25 May 2019 15:02, UK
Celtic will be aiming for a historic 'treble treble' when they take on Hearts in the Scottish Cup final on Saturday.
Neil Lennon's side go into the Hampden Park tie in daunting form, having yet to concede in the Scottish Cup this season and winning all four games so far by at least two goals.
Another victory this weekend would see them win their ninth successive trophy and their third this season, completing an unprecedented treble treble in domestic Scottish football.
It is a competition that interim manager Lennon knows well, having won it four times as a player at Celtic and twice as a manager, but he is not focusing on the history that could be made.
"It's about the game," he said. "The players are aware of what's on the end of it. It's important to play the game and not the occasion.
"They know exactly what the need to do, they've done this before and they know what it takes to win the game. It doesn't need any extra motivation. Their mindset needs to be right, and I'm sure it will be on Saturday."
But Hearts have hopes of stopping the Celtic juggernaut, which they have already done this season - they are one of only four teams to beat the Hoops in a domestic fixture this season, winning 1-0 at home in August.
Hearts also have a winning history in the Scottish Cup, last lifting the trophy in 2012, and manager Craig Levein believes they can do so again.
He said: "We're going for the single single. It's just as important to us. We've got recent history of beating Celtic. The preparation for the game in the last two or three weeks has gone extremely well.
"We can beat Celtic, we've proven that. We've got a big occasion in us, I'm certain of that. It's about bringing our A-game at the right time and possibly having a little bit rub of the green."
Team news
Scott Brown, James Forrest, Kieran Tierney, Mikael Lustig and Johnny Hayes should be fit for Celtic on what could be a historic day.
However, Ryan Christie, Jack Hendry, Vakoun Bayo, Dedryck Boyata - who will move to Hertha Berlin this summer - Craig Gordon, Eboue Kouassi and Daniel Arzani are still out, along with Leigh Griffiths.
Uche Ikpeazu and Peter Haring and Arnaud Djoum are expected to be available after missing the 2-1 defeat at Celtic Park last weekend.
However, Callum Morrison, Aidan Keena, Ben Garuccio, Demetri Mitchell, Steven Naismith and Olly Lee are all out with knee injuries.