O'Neill on Hearts' advantage, handball rule & 'electric' Parkhead

[ASFN Admin]

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.

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