Neil Lennon can sense his Celtic players are looking to taste the sweet taste of success again so soon after lifting the SPL title. The Scottish Cupholders will be wanting to get past Hearts today to win the right to take on Hibs in the final again on 19 May. The SPL title was won in style last Saturday in fine style with a 6-0 win over Kilmarnock at Rugby Park. Manager Lennon insists winning the title for the first time in four years will have fired up his players to win the double.
Lennon said: "You get a taste for it. The players would have woken up on Sunday morning with a huge smile on their face and, I'm sure, with immense satisfaction with what they have achieved. And then you go again. You want more once you taste it. We won the Scottish Cup last year and that gave them and me a real taste of success and as a manager you want as many trophies on your CV as possible. And we are going for the fourth domestic final in a row and that's enough (in itself) to incentivise the players. At the end of the day it's a cup final, it's a great day, a showpiece occasion and we want to be there. We are the holders of the trophy and we want to keep it if we can, but we have to beat Hearts and we will have to play well to do so."
Lennon knows it will not be a case of just turning up the win the game and pinpointed former Celtic team-mate Craig Beattie as a main danger. Beattie was a Scottish Cup winner with Celtic in 2007 and the former West Brom and Swansea striker has added a new dimension to the Gorgie side since arriving at the club in February. Lennon said: "I think there has been an improvement in his game from what I have seen of him. He played very well against St Mirren (in the last round), he was a real threat, and played with great maturity, something I have noticed that about him since he came back. He has obviously missed a lot of football through injury but he looks very strong. He was always a good athlete and had good pace but his technique has improved in terms of his build-up play and he always has an eye for a goal. I'm really pleased for him that he has got some consistent playing time and I'm sure he is enjoying his football."
Hearts: MacDonald, Grainger, Barr, Webster, Black, Elliott, Driver, McGowan, Skacel, Zaliukas, Robinson
Subs: Ridgers, Beattie, Santana, Templeton, Prychynenko
Celtic: Forster, Wilson, Brown, Samaras. Commons, Ledley, Ki, Mulgrew, Loovens, Lustig, Hooper
Subs: Zaluska, Izaguirre, Stokes, McGeouch, Wanyama