Beattie seeks Hampden repeat

CRAIG Beattie says facing old club Celtic will make Sunday’s Scottish Cup semi-final an even more special occasion – but it is a dramatic match-winning outing with Scotland that the Hearts striker will be trying to repeat.

Three of Beattie’s international caps were won at Hampden and his last-minute winning goal for Scotland in a 2-1 victory over Georgia in 2007 is the moment he would love to recreate against Celtic this weekend. “That was a great day. It’s right up there as one of the best days of my football career. It was a 92nd-minute winner against Georgia at Hampden in a European Championships qualifier. It was a really good day and hopefully I don’t leave it as late on Sunday!

“Hampden is a great venue. I was involved in the play-offs final last year at Wembley and there was nearly 90,000 people there. It was a fantastic day. But to come back and play in the Scottish league and to where I’ve played for my country, and scored goals for my country, it’s going to be a great day.”

Beattie readily accepts that Celtic will be expected to take a step closer to the double by seeing off Hearts but said: “Sometimes form goes out the window when you come to these games and it’s time for big players with big shoulders to step up and really perform.”