Sky Sports man and former Celt Davie Provan has made his prediction for today’s Scottish Cup Final and there’s little surprise he’s backing his former club to come out on top.
Provan has had his own heroics at Hampden once upon a time and believes the fear of losing will be driving this Celtic team to beat Hearts for the second consecutive Scottish Cup Final.
It’s happening seven months after it should have and Craig Gordon will now be the man looking to stop Celtic win, the stage is set nicely for an entertaining game.
Neil Lennon has a selection headache and Hearts are on a Championship high.
The Jambos might be a Championship club at the moment but their team is Premier League quality and the bhoys have struggled against domestic opposition this term.
Our poor form will give Hearts a lot of encouragement but Provan thinks, on the day, the bhoys will have enough. Writing in his SunSport column, Provan tips the scale in Celtic’s favour.
Having watched youngsters Conor Hazard, Ismaila Soro and David Turnbull jump-start the team, does Lennon go back to the old guard?
I don’t see an ounce of sentiment coming into it but Lennon has a lot to think about.
Trust me, the fear of losing will be the big driver for Celtic. That’s how it is at the club and, with a quadruple Treble on the line, blowing it isn’t an option.
That’s exactly what Hearts did against Celts in last season’s final. For an hour Craig Levein’s side were in no danger. With Celtic miles off it, Levein’s rope-a-dope tactics had worked perfectly, with Ryan Edwards putting them ahead early in the second half.
But you could have put the kettle on for what happened next. Sure enough, Odsonne Edouard grabs a double in the last half-hour and Celts take the trophy.
And if you could put Edouard’s winner down to woeful Hearts defending, there was more to it than that. Levein’s players simply didn’t believe they could win.
The game kicks off todat at 2:15pm. There will be no fans in the stadium and the echoes of Hampden Park will be the only thing reverberating through the stadium on the day.
While Celtic haven’t coped very well with no crowds, they must rise above it and focus in on completing a historic quadtreble.
