Hearts vs Celtic injury news: Striker ‘should be fine’ for Scottish Cup clash and defensive duo could return

Ange Postecoglou’s side face the Jambos for the second time in as many matches, this time at Tynecastle with a place in the Scottish Cup semi-final up for grabs.
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It’s a break from Scottish Premiership action this weekend as the Scottish Cup once again takes centre stage and Celtic prepare to face familiar opponents.

Ange Postecoglou’s side beat Hearts 3-1 at Celtic Park in the Scottish Premiership on Wednesday with Daizen Maeda, Kyogo Furuhashi and Sead Haksabanovic on the score sheet after Josh Ginelly’s opener and the Hoops will face the Jambos again this weekend. This time it will be at Tynecastle in the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup, kicking off at 12:15pm on Saturday. Here is the latest injury news from both camps ahead of Sunday’s match:

Hearts team news

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Robbie Neilson has said he expects star striker Lawrence Shankland to be fit for the match. He said: “Lawrence Shankland didn’t train today so he’ll be touch and go. We’ll make a game-time decision on him. He’s such an important player for us so he has to be bang on if he’s going to play.

Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland is a doubt for the Scottish Cup match against Celtic. Picture: SNSHearts striker Lawrence Shankland is a doubt for the Scottish Cup match against Celtic. Picture: SNS
Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland is a doubt for the Scottish Cup match against Celtic. Picture: SNS

“A couple of the other ones will make it so there will be a couple of changes but not a huge amount. If there’s a possibility that these guys can play then we’ll want to because it’s such an important game for us. It’s an opportunity to get to Hampden for a semi-final.”

Yutaro Oda has picked up a knock on his foot and will have a scan, according to the Jambos boss, so will likely miss the match while Stephen Humphrys is also doubtful. Scotland keeper Craig Gordon and centre back Craig Halkett also remain out. Michael Smith and Robert Snodgrass will come back into contention.

Celtic team news

Daizen Maeda picked up a foot injury in the midweek win at Celtic Park and has since been pictured on crutches. It’s unclear how long the Japanese forward will be out for but he will almost certainly miss this Saturday’s cup tie.

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James Forrest and James McCarthy will miss the match but full-backs Greg Taylor and Alistair Johnston are expected to return after sitting out the midweek match. Other than that, Ange Postecoglou appears to have a full strength squad to pick from.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Friday, Postecoglou said: “The only issue is Daizen. It’s fair to say he’s improved, he didn’t train today as he was working with the physios but he has improved. I’ll see how he is tomorrow, I’d say he’s 50/50 for this game. Everyone else who played (on Wednesday) are all fine to go again.”

Who is the referee

Kevin Clancy will be the referee for Saturday’s Scottish Cup quarter final between Hearts and Celtic at Tynecastle. The last Celtic match he refereed was their last Scottish Cup fixture where they beat Championship side Greenock Morton 5-0 at Celtic Park.

Clancy has issued 17 yellow cards and one red card in his last five matches. This season he has shown 94 yellows and eight reds across games in the Scottish Premiership, Scottish Cup, Scottish League Cup, Scottish Championship and UEFA Europa League.

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