Wilfried Nancy is ready to take on his first match in charge of Celtic this weekend

New Celtic manager Wilfried Nancy is set for a baptism of fire as his side prepare to face Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts.

The boss has a golden opportunity to make a massive splash at his new club, as a win against the Jambos would see Celtic climb to the top of the table. However, if the Hoops drop points to Hearts on Sunday, it won’t be the fault of the new manager.

That’s according to Chris Sutton, who has weighed in on Nancy’s arrival at Lennoxtown before his first match in charge of Celtic.

The pundit and former Hoops forward believes Martin O’Neill’s impressive spell as interim manager may have actually set his successor up for a tough initial run at the club.

Martin O’Neill may have boosted Wilfried Nancy pressure at Celtic

Celtic’s new manager has revealed he has already spoken with predecessor O’Neill, who leaves the club after a respectable tenure in charge. Sutton believes this was a very good decision from Nancy but has admitted that O’Neill’s run could well have piled the pressure on Nancy’s shoulders.

“There’s no better way to get a feel for his new surroundings than to talk to the man who’s been in there for the last five or six weeks,” Sutton said in his latest Record Sport column.

“And, knowing Martin, there won’t have been any sugar coating either. You don’t need to have been a fly on the wall to guess what the outgoing boss told the incoming one – win no matter what.

“That’s been O’Neill’s mantra throughout and it’s the one thing Nancy will need to do as well – despite some of his claims yesterday. And it’s not going to be easy. In fact, in some ways it’s an impossible task.

“This is a Celtic squad that was already lacking after the summer but it’s now being stretched to the limit.

“Martin has had to rely on a core group to get the job done in recent weeks but it’s already taking its toll. He’s discovered who he can and can’t trust and it will be over to the new man to do the same.”

Celtic ‘will drop points’ in first weeks of Wilfried Nancy tenure

Sutton went on to say he was pleased O’Neill ‘got the send off he deserved’ after his efforts as interim manager in these recent weeks. However, he has set the bar high for Nancy, despite only stepping in on a temporary basis after Brendan Rodgers.

“In some way he has actually inadvertently cranked up the pressure on his successor by being so successful,” Sutton continued.

“It’ll have to be a gradual process. And it might not be straight forward. Celtic WILL drop points over the next few weeks. But that would be the case no matter who was in charge.

“It’s a tough enough period when you’ve build up a head of steam from the summer. Even more so now for a Celtic side that’s struggling badly with injuries and gaps in the squad. O’Neill recognised it as well. The results were brilliant under his short reign, but the performances were secondary.”