Andy Halliday says facing top opposition like Celtic is always a challenge but that Hearts are ready to do battle.
The former Rangers star is no stranger to facing the Hoops but found himself on the receiving end of a defeat at Parkhead on Wednesday despite setting up the opening goal for attacker Josh Ginnelly. The Jambos put in a spirited performance and became the only side to score more than four goals against the champions in an eventual 3-1 defeat.
Robbie Neilson's men face the task of a Scottish Cup quarter-final on Saturday - a competition the Gorgie reached the final of last season - but this time with home advantage. Halliday insists he gets a boost when playing 'top opposition' but that he wants to turn his personal bad record against the green and white around soon.
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The midfielder also allayed any fears over his condition as he was replaced after 70 minutes in Glasgow.
He told the Edinburgh Evening News: “We’ve lost 1-0, 3-2, 4-3 against Celtic in the last couple of seasons, so it has been tight. We are under no illusions, though. They are a good side but I think we have shown we are a good side as well. We need to be at our best again to get through to the next round of the Scottish Cup.
“It might sound silly because you know it’s a game where, at times, you will have your backs against the wall. These have always been the games I have looked forward to most and I’ve had some bad results in them. I will never shy away from the challenge of going up against a good side like Celtic.
“Wednesday was no different. I thought our players had the same mentality and approached it correctly and that’s why we put in the performance we did. We still walked away disappointed because we wanted to pick up more points in the league campaign. We had only lost twice in the league since the World Cup break prior to Wednesday.”
He added when quizzed on being taken off: “I’m fine, yeah. I was more than willing to continue. I don’t know, you’d need to ask the gaffer. I think he was maybe just taking no risk going into the game at the weekend.
"A couple of boys were maybe running on empty a bit because some of the guys who started hadn’t had a lot of game time."
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