Celtic meet Hearts tonight at Tynecastle, kick-off 6pm, in the tie of the round in the SFA Youth Cup.
Over the last three seasons the Edinburgh side have been Celtic’s main rivals for silverware with the winners of today’s clash instantly installed as favourites to lift the trophy at Hampden.
The hoops are going for an unprecedented fourth successive trophy win but John Kennedy won’t look beyond tonight’s action at Tynecastle.
“We’ve spoken to the players in training that this is probably as big a one off match as we can get,” the Celtic coach admitted.
“Other than a cup final an away cup tie with Hearts at Tynecastle is as tough as it gets. It should be fiery and it’s a match the players are looking forward to.
“As long as I can remember there has always been an edge to Celtic v Hearts matches and being a cup tie will add extra spice.
“We want to take the game to Hearts, we know it will be tough and we’ll have to start the game well and concentrate 100%.
“This is a good match for our players to show why they are at Celtic. We bring them in because we believe in them and that they have the attributes to become first team players.
“We have got a good team but they have to prove that on the day. In a cup tie it can be all over if you make a single mistake but we’ll go into the match looking to express ourselves and put Hearts under pressure.”
John Herron, Joe Chalmers, Marcus Fraser, Stuart Findlay, Callum McGregor and Jackson Irvine return from international duty for Celtic.
On Wednesday Celtic host Aston Villa in the Next Gen Series at Firhill.
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Best of luck tonight to Celtic’s young un’s.
A win today sets us up nicely for the midweek game v Villa….Take the game to them from the start and keep them under pressure.
If we play as we can, then the game is ours…players should relish to atmosphere, the louder the shout – the better we are playing.