Jim Goodwin piles pressure on Hearts’ title challenge to Celtic ahead of Dundee United Tynecastle clash
Celtic face Kilmarnock at Parkhead as Dundee United travel to Hearts, and Jim Goodwin has thrown down the title gauntlet to the Tynecastle club.
The Dundee United boss was talking up Hearts being at the top of the Scottish Premiership table as he questioned whether or not Derek McInnes’ side can keep up with the pressure from Celtic.
The Parkhead club look revitalised domestically as Celtic beat Rangers and Falkirk comprehensively in O’Neill’s first two games in charge.
And looking ahead to his Hearts fixture, Dundee United boss Jim Goodwin appears to give the Tynecastle side a wee poke as he highlights the ‘pressure’ that’s on McInnes’ side.
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Jim Goodwin questions Hearts’ ability to cope with Celtic/Rangers ‘pressure’
Dundee United are hoping to pick up all three points at Tynecastle today in a bid to climb into the top six, and while Goodwin gave Hearts ‘credit’, he pointed out the ‘pressure’ the Edinburgh side will come under from Celtic and Rangers.
Goodwin told the Evening Telegraph Sport, “Given the level of investment that’s been made in the squad over the last number of years, I think it’s where the Hearts supporters expect them to be – and they probably haven’t had that consistently enough.
“Derek McInnes deserves a huge amount of credit for what he’s done.
“But like I said, that brings its own pressures on the Hearts players.
“Can they maintain it? Can they stay there? Celtic and Rangers have both made managerial changes and seem to have got a little bit of a bounce with that. It all makes for an exciting Scottish Premiership; that’s for sure.”
Jim Goodwin’s honest thoughts on Hearts and Celtic title race
This isn’t the first time the Dundee United boss has commented on Hearts’ title challenge to Celtic.
Speaking last month, the Dundee United boss said that the Edinburgh side being top of the league was great for Scottish football.
Goodwin said, “I think the Scottish Premiership is probably the strongest that it’s been for a number of years. And I think you can see that even today with some of the results that have happened.
“I think it’s going to be a real battle for the top six places and for the European places. There’s no easy games in this league. But from our own perspective, we have to consistently try and get better.
“We have to give better performances over 90 minutes. When we play the way we played in the second half, we’ve done that numerous times this season. The unfortunate thing from my point of view is that we’ve been leading games on a few occasions this season.”
