Hearts felt they could defeat Celtic, and their remarks in the away locker room

Before last Saturday’s game, Stephen Kingsley explained just why Hearts believed they could defeat Celtic.

Lawrence Shankland scored two goals to give the Jambos a rather easy 2-0 victory at Parkhead, and the full-back then added a free kick to further elevate the score.Watching their opponents put in a shift midweek at home to Feyenoord in the Champions League gave Steven Naismith and his team hope, and the defender always believed that an energy-sapping 90 minutes combined with their loss to Kilmarnock the previous weekend would have left Brendan Rodgers’ team vulnerable.

At that point, according to Kingsley, the Hearts team realized they had to seize every chance they had.

“We talked about it (Celtic being vulnerable) before the game,” he stated. Not just Celtic, but any team that experiences such a high in the middle of the week naturally experiences it.

“They were off, and I think they’ll admit that to themselves. On Wednesday night, they had an incredible game and victory. To be honest, everybody who has played the game knows that after such a huge high, there’s always a slight lethargic feeling the following game. Regaining your full strength for games is difficult.

We had a great time listening to them. But our defense was excellent. They weren’t frequently breaking us apart, but they were still having shots. When we first stepped in, it was primarily focused on the psychological aspect of things. We played bravely, in my opinion, especially in the first half.

“We were aware of the opportunity when we went there. A small amount of good fortune must be on your side. When we arrived at Ibrox, we had a 1-0 lead going into the ninetieth minute. In these crucial games, we’ve performed admirably and felt like we were getting close to a win. The boys deserve all the praise.