Hibernian head coach Paul Heckingbottom admits he is desperate to avoid the “horrible” prospect of Celtic celebrating a title triumph at Easter Road.
Celtic would have the chance to wrap up their eighth consecutive Ladbrokes Premiership success against Hibs on Sunday, if Rangers failed to beat Hearts 24 hours earlier.
The former Barnsley manager has been witness to another team’s title party during his time in the Sky Bet Championship and he is determined to ensure his side are not playing a supporting role on Sunday,
He said: “We’d had a good season at Barnsley ourselves and went to Newcastle last game of the season and they had to win to cement the league. And they beat us.
“We’d had a good season ourselves, but it was still horrible. You are just jealous.
“So I don’t want that happening purely from a selfish point of view. You might not see me after the game if that happens.
“It’s not something I want to be doing.”
Celtic moved closer to the treble last Sunday with a William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final win over nine-man Aberdeen, but Heckingbottom switched off after Dominic Ball’s first-half red card.
“As soon as they had a man sent off I lost interest, because I don’t want to be getting a man sent off after half-an-hour,” he said. “So I didn’t pay any attention after that.
“We are starting with 11 men not 10, so it makes no difference to me. Once they went to 10 men, there was no point in me watching it. Everything I’m seeing is not what we are going to see on Sunday.
“If we go down to 10 men, we know how we play, it’s different to Aberdeen.”
