“I’m Perfectly Okay to Start Games” – Iheanacho Prepared to Answer Celtic Striker Question

Celtic forward Kelechi Iheanacho says that he is ready to play his part in the title run-in after he scored the vital winner in his side’s 2-1 victory at Dundee. It was the first time this season the Parkhead club have won in the city of discovery, with Iheanacho’s match-winning strike eight minutes from time keeping Celtic within touching distance of leaders Hearts after they dropped points in a 2-2 draw away to Livingston. And the Nigerian believes he can be the man to lead the line for Celtic as he puts his injury worries behind him with the hunt for a domestic double still achievable. He said: “Yeah, I’m sure I’m fit to start games. Obviously it’s up to the manager to pick who he wants to start the games, but I’m really sure I’m perfectly okay to start games. “When you’re injured as a player, it’s obviously really difficult. Sometimes you could put your head down and all that. “Obviously you still support your team, but it’s really sad sometimes not getting on the pitch, contributing to the club that signed you.” The 29-year-old’s late strike coupled with a first half opener from Hyun-jun Yang either side of a Simon Murray penalty keeps Celtic third but just three points off of Hearts, with the defending champions expected to play the current leaders and Rangers at home in the split. And Iheanacho knows of the significance of the last few weeks of the campaign. “We just need to take it one game at a time and hopefully it will fall for us. “It [the result] was really massive for the team, where we are in the table, close to the top, so it’s massive. “It would have been scary to drop points because it would have been hard for the rest of the season. It was a great finish so I’m happy. “We need to keep winning to get to the end. Obviously it’s not been great for the past few weeks but I think we showed great character, discipline and togetherness to win the game.” It was the fourth goal from the former Manchester City attacker this season, which incredibly makes him Celtic’s highest scoring striker this season. With his current deal expiring in the summer, Iheanacho says negotiations are a second priority to the task at hand just now. “I think in terms of that [contract expiring], we’re focussing now on the games going forward. “Anything that concerns the contract will be maybe after the season, after we achieve our goals.” Celtic’s next two games are against St. Mirren in the league and then again in the Scottish Cup semi-final, with the anticipated split fixture dates set to be announced in the next few days.

Sporting Lisbon vs Arsenal – Match Preview

Arsenal return to Champions League action on Tuesday, looking to bounce back from back-to-back cup defeats. These two sides have met three times in the past three years. The first of those three came in a 2-2 draw in Lisbon in the first leg of the Last 16 of the Europa League. In the return leg in N5, Sporting Lisbon progressed on penalties after a 1-1 draw after 120 minutes. And the most recent meeting between these sides came in November 2024, when Arsenal won 5-1 in Lisbon. Sporting Lisbon enjoyed an impressive Champions League, league phase, finishing within the top 8, above the likes of Manchester City, Real Madrid and reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain. This match will be far from easy for the Gunners, as in the last 16, the Portuguese outfit overturned a 3-0 first leg deficit against Norwegian side Bodo Glimt. Rui Borges’ side won 3-0 after 90 minutes, which sent the tie into extra time, where goals from Araujo and Nel sent Sporting through, to set up a Last 8 meeting with Arsenal. Arsenal are yet to lose in this season’s Champions League. The Gunners won all 8 of their league phase matches which resulted in a 1st place finish. Mikel Arteta’s men were then drawn against Bayer Leverkusen in the Last 16, where they won 3-1 across the two legs, drawing 1-1 in Germany, then winning 2-0 in England. Sporting Lisbon come into this first leg clash off the back of back-to-back league wins against Alverca and Santa Clara, and in their last three matches in all competitions, they have found the net thirteen times, while Arsenal come into this meeting off the back of back-to-back cup defeats against Manchester City in the League Cup Final, then against Southampton in the FA Cup. Sporting Lisbon will be without their captain Morten Hjulmand for Tuesday’s first leg through suspension. Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta confirmed that Jurrien Timber and Bukayo Saka will not be available for Arsenal in Lisbon, however, Declan Rice, Leandro Trossard and Gabriel will all be available for selection. Viktor Gyokeres scored an impressive 97 times for Sporting Lisbon in only 102 appearances, and manager Rui Borges hopes that the Swede will receive a positive reception from the Sporting faithful when he returns to Lisbon on Tuesday: “He is a great player, and I am sure he will be welcomed by everyone because he marked the history of Sporting, and he deserves this acknowledgement. “I always try to be balanced, and I try to understand everyone. He had the ambition, and after talking to the management, they came to an understanding so ultimately everything that happened was correct for both sides; both Sporting and the player got what they wanted. He wanted to take that step in his career and we respect that. “Players will change, but the club stays the same, and Sporting will go on winning. I wish him (Gyokeres) all the best and I am sure he will be very welcome here because the admiration we have for him is great.” Rui Borges on Arsenal: “It is a great team, and great teams always want to win. They want to be in all competitions. “They will be like a wounded beast tomorrow. They will be more focused, more willing to show their collective and individual capacity. “Frankly, I think it will make things more difficult for us the fact that they have not had the best two last matches. But Arsenal will be facing a very motivated team. We believe we can do something extraordinary tomorrow, something that has never been done by Sporting.” Mikel Arteta on Sporting Lisbon: “Before we played them as well, when you look at what they’ve done, especially at home, the way they have behaved in this Champions League, the teams that they have beaten, we know the difficulty of the match. That’s why we want it even more.”

Two Leagues, One Identity: Hearts’ Rise

Heart of Midlothian’s position at the top of both the Scottish Premiership and Scottish Women’s Premier League 1 in the 2025/2026 season is not simply just a reflection of strong form, but of a club wide model built on structure and efficiency. For the men’s team, Derek McInnes has built a side that knows exactly what it is. Hearts are compact and difficult to break down, closing off central areas and forcing opponents to dig deep into the game. Their defensive structure this season has also been very strong, with Craig Halkett and Stuart Findlay receiving high praise from the manager consistently. In midfield, there’s a clear balance. Cameron Devlin brings energy and aggression, winning the ball back and driving the team forward, while Beni Baningime and Marc Leonard offer a calmness and control when things need to slow down. The women’s team, led by Eva Olid, have taken a slightly different route to the same outcome. Their style is more front-footed, with an emphasis on pressing high and winning the ball back quickly. Georgia Timms has been a major influence in attack, making the most of those moments with sharp positioning and consistent finishing. Around her, Carly Johns adds creativity and movement, finding space and linking play in dangerous areas. What stands out across both teams is how clear everything looks. Players understand their roles, the shape is consistent, and the approach doesn’t change drastically from game to game. Recruitment, coaching, and player development all seem aligned, which is helping create success on both sides of the game. There are not many games left to go this season, and staying at the top will bring its own pressures. But right now, Heart of Midlothian look well equipped to handle that.

“He wasn’t going to contribute to us staying up” – Robinson on Nilsen’s departure

Aberdeen boss Stephen Robinson said “He wasn’t [Nilsen] going to contribute to us staying up” in a recent interview as the Dons aim to fight off relegation. Stephen Robinson came out to say if Sivert Heltne Nilsen was to stay at Pittodrie, the Norwegian wouldn’t have been able to contribute to staying up which has gained some disappointment by the Aberdeen support with Robinson also claiming it would be “unfair” to let Nilsen depart. Nilsen departed the Dons a couple of weeks ago to return to Norway during a time which has been really difficult for Aberdeen as the midfielder left for FK Haugesund. The 34-year-old made 56 appearances in Red, scoring just two goals for the Pittodrie side. Many Aberdeen fans have shown disappointment due to the timing of the departure as Nilsen left during a very fragile moment as Aberdeen continue to try and avoid the drop in which was been a horrendous past few months in the Granite City. Robinson said: “Let me first say, Sivert is a great boy. I loved working with him for that short period of time. “(But) Sivert hasn’t played a game for… I think he’s started one game in months and months and months, so he wasn’t an integral part of the squad. “He got a four-year contract and a coaching offer, which was nearly a seven-year contract. “He made it very, very clear he wanted to go home. “And sometimes you have to be fair in life. “And if he wasn’t going to contribute to us staying up in terms of the pitch minutes – and previous suggests he wasn’t going to do that – I think it would have been very, very unfair to say ‘you can stay there and maybe not even be on the bench at stages’. “So yes, I believe that was the right decision.” Aberdeen appear to not have many older faces and experience which Nilsen had as the Norwegian was one of the older players within the squad although Robinson is known for playing the youth during in time in Paisley. After being questioned on whether Aberdeen need to look into some more experienced faces: “There’s a little bit of disparity in the squad, of course. “That’s not something I can focus on right now. I have to get the best I possibly can out of what’s available. “And then we’ll worry about it in the summer. “But yes, I certainly take your point on that, yes. “Well, we do that anyway.”  

“That’s a clear penalty” – Askou bemoans officiating after Falkirk defeat

Jens Berthel Askou believes his side were denied a clear penalty during their 3-2 defeat against Falkirk, as Motherwell fell to their third defeat in four league games. Speaking at full-time, Askou was full of praise for his opponent, who secured top six with the victory. “They’re a brilliant football team, and I put them up there among the best. Congratulations to them for the win and what they’ve achieved so far. I think they deserve it. The Dane was pleased with many aspects of the performance, but an inability to capitalise on their positive moments cost them dearly. “In terms of intentions, willpower, and work rate, our performance was good, but there were a lot of moments where we should have been better. Both in attacking moments, leading to attacks. But also, there were moments to score goals we didn’t take, but there were moments we lost the ball in critical places where we have to be better. “When we play against the best, then we need, sometimes, the things we cannot control to also go our way, so far this season, that has not happened. I have been hoping that, eventually, it will go our way.” Askou was left frustrated with an early officiating decision on top goalscorer Tawanda Maswanhise. The striker seemingly collided with Falkirk’s Liam Henderson in the box, but Duncan Nicolson chose not to point to the spot. There’s a clear penalty on Tawanda Maswanhise. It is very clear Liam Henderson wipes him out. That’s a clear penalty and a potential red card. After seven minutes we should have been 1-1. It was a massively decisive moment that, for some reason, they cannot get right. “I think the penalty against Ibrahim Said is very debatable. I have seen situations like that many, many, many times where those situations haven’t been given as a penalty. “We can’t get the penalty back now so there’s no reason to start to ask for one. Hibernian’s 3-0 win over Kilmarnock means Motherwell’s hold on 4th place has reduced to three points. European football remains the priority for the Steelmen, and Askou encouraged his side to focus on improvement across the last six games. “I know there are a lot of other clubs who can and will say the same. Our main focus for us is to try to improve, and we try to not let this stop us. “Many of the performances we’ve had lately have been similar to the performances where we’ve just succeeded in winning. We just haven’t been as sharp in moments.”

“I was proud of them” – Marvin Bartley

Marvin Bartley’s Livingston side held Hearts to an enthralling 2-2 draw in Livingston, despite going behind in the second half. Derek McInnes and 7,000 Hearts fans travelled to Livingston in hope to extend their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership. However, bottom of the table Livingston held the table toppers to a draw, in what was a massive blow for Hearts in their chase for the Scottish Premiership. Hearts took the lead early in the second half, courtesy of Claudio Braga. After himself and Lawrence Shankland combined to put Hearts ahead. And it looked like Hearts would then find comfort and potentially extend their lead. But Lewis Smith had other ideas, as he found an equaliser for the hosts in the 58th minute. Livingston showed fantastic belief and character throughout the match and were rewarded with a well-deserved point. They could have even won all three points in the closing stages. When Robbie Muirhead was found through on goal, before being cynically fouled by Marc Leonard, resulting in a red card after a VAR check. After the strong performance, Marvin Bartley said: “I was proud of them, because it’s very easy when you’ve got 7,000 Hearts supporters, you’re 2-1 down and bottom of the league to feel sorry for yourself. But they went the other way. “I was really pleased with the way that they did play today. I thought Rangers here as well, we did extremely well. And in parts again, away to Celtic. “This team will keep on fighting. We take every game in isolation, because if you start looking at the league table at 2-1 down, you probably don’t get the reaction that they did give you. “Hearts fans probably came here today and thought it was going to be an easy game. But we came back into the game, and we were pushing for a winner at the end.” An unfortunate season for Livingston. However, since the introduction of Bartley, there has been strong performances in recent times against the top three. It demonstrates that Bartley and his side will not stop pushing until its mathematically over.