Sunday’s Scottish Cup tie between Celtic and Hibernian has a big-game feel about it.
With 7,000 Hibs fans expected to pack out a vastly extended away end at Celtic Park, David Gray’s in-form side will arrive in Glasgow with their tails up as they aim to cause an upset to reach the semi-finals of the competition.
Hibs’ confidence couldn’t be higher amid their ongoing 14-game unbeaten run which has seen the Edinburgh side rise to third in the Scottish Premiership.
To further boost their self-esteem levels, they come into the game fresh in the knowledge that they managed to inflict just a second domestic defeat of the season on the Hoops just a fortnight ago at Easter Road.
There is an air of familiarity about this tale though, in the sense that any time a Scottish club manages to build momentum they come unstuck and are brought down to earth with an almighty thud. Think Aberdeen earlier this season when they were demolished 6-0 by Brendan Rodgers’ men.
Nicolas Kuhn insists Celtic will use their recent defeat against Hibs as extra motivation, as the German and his Hoops teammates look to go within five games of potentially winning another treble under Rodgers.
“It should be a very exciting game,” the 25-year-old said. “We played Hibs a couple of weeks ago in Edinburgh and lost so we know they are strong.
“We were not at best that day, though. When we turned in good performances against them at the start of the season, we won both games. Hopefully, we can deliver another good performance on Sunday.
“Of course, after you lose it is always nice to get a game against the same opponent because it gives you the chance to do better than you did last time.
“As I said, at the beginning of the season we had two games against them in quick succession and did well, we won both.
“It is the cup so there will be a different feel to this match. In the cups the goal for everyone is to reach the next round, lose and you are out – it is the same for all teams.
“The fans obviously know this, so you get a great atmosphere at the ties. I am sure that will be the case in this one.
“I like it (the Hibs ticket allocation). For example, the away games in the Champions League are always enjoyable.
“You get the big home crowds and, of course, we always have our supporters with us too.
“It is very exciting that we’re three games away from winning another trophy. We have goals for the rest of the season and the Scottish Cup is very much a part of them.
“We want to win this tie, we want to get back to Hampden Park, to play there again, and, of course, ultimately we want to win the trophy.”
Kuhn admits he thought his goal minutes from the end of regular time in the League Cup final against Rangers was the winner, only for Hamza Igamane to burst his bubble a matter of seconds later.
That was until the Hoops went on to claim the first available silverware of the season with a penalty shootout victory.
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Kuhn had been withdrawn from the action before penalties, but the German winger insists he’d have put himself forward to handle the pressure kick.
“When I scored I thought that would be it,” he said. “That the cup final was over and we had won it.
“Unfortunately, we conceded a goal right after and the game went to extra time but we did well in that, also in the penalty shootout so it was a deserved win.
“I would have taken a penalty no problem, but it was a long and hard game and we did need fresh legs. I was one of the players to be substituted. In the end it was perfect.
“So far it has been really great to be here, I really like it. Hopefully there will be some more trophies to come this season.
“My contract runs until 2029 so I am very much looking forward to what is to come.”
It’s been a highly successful campaign for Kuhn both on an individual and collectively basis. He has 18 goals and 13 assists in 40 appearances across all competitions.
This has firmly put him into the frame to be one of the leading contenders for the top-flight’s Player of the Year, with nominations for the end of season awards not too far away.
German national team head coach Julian Nagelsmann is believed to be an admirer of the attacker’s performances. Not for the first time, Kuhn admits international recognition is a personal goal of his.
He added: “Yeah, Germany is an ambition. I always said for them to come for me I would have to get my assists and get my goals.
“I think the season has been pretty good for me and for the team so I will see what is coming.
“I have not hard contact with the national team coach yet, but we will see.
“The more success Celtic can have the better, but I know too that Germany have a lot of players available to him so there is a lot of competition.
“We have had a lot of really, really good games, especially in the Champions League. The Leipzig game at home was great also the game away at Bayern, with the exception of the last minute.
“Those were really special for me. A lot of my family and friends were at the game and were really happy.
“I met them after the game, it was really nice. They were happy for me to score against Bayern but I think also everyone in Germany saw that Celtic did a really good job against them.
“Frankfurt and Leverkusen have since lost against them, so I think we did a really good job there.
“My family comes over to see me play quite a lot. They’ll be over for the Rangers game next week. They like it at the stadium and Glasgow.”
