Celtic aiming for more than seven against Hearts

HEARTS have been warned that Celtic are intent on bettering the 7-0 Scottish Cup thrashing they inflicted on Gary Locke’s side in December when they return to Tynecastle tomorrow.

Efe Ambrose, Fraser Forster and Georgios Samaras. Picture: SNS

Celtic were in rampant form when they raced into a 5-0 half-time lead two months ago, en route to one of the biggest away wins in their history.

While Hearts will be seeking a measure of revenge in this weekend’s Premiership meeting of the clubs, Celtic defender Efe Ambrose insists the champions are capable of recording an even heavier margin of victory.

“This time, it is going to be a different ball game, because we know this time Hearts are going to give us a good fight after what happened the last time,” said Ambrose. “They won’t want that to repeat itself.

“At the same time, we want to do maybe more than what we did the last time. So it is going to be a two-way fight. But we are Celtic and we know how to win games.

“For the goals we scored, the last game at Tynecastle was one of the best displays I have been part of. But I think I’ve played in games when we have been better. In that game, everything worked out for us.”

If Celtic pass the 31-minute mark at Tynecastle without conceding a goal, they will beat the all-time Scottish league 
shut-out record of 1,195 minutes set by Aberdeen back in the 1970-71 season.

“Everybody is talking about it but it is not easy to achieve,” added Ambrose. “It has taken a lot of hard work, dedication and commitment. It is close now, but you never know when it is going to end. We just think ‘game after game’ and see what happens. I’m sure our fans will let us know when 31 minutes is up, but we just have to keep it going.”