SAVE THE DATE
Keeper will hang up gloves next month
JOE HART now knows the Scottish Cup Final will bring down the curtain on his glittering career.
And the big keeper is determined to make sure he bows out of Celtic with a silver-lined finish that includes lifting the Premiership and Scottish Cup.
Hart wants to make sure the next six games bring a double.
The final game will be the Scottish Cup final with Rangers at Hampden on May 25th. And Hart said: “It could be a good way to bow out hopefully.
“I’ve got a date now that I know isgoing to be the final game I am available to be involved in.
Emotional
“Who knows what’s going to happen in the next five weeks? Hopefully I’ll be fit and in form and picked to play. It’s all set up though.”
The Hampden showcase promises to be an emotional day for Hart and his nearest and dearest as it will be where he says his final playing farewell.
He added: “I’ve got a lot of people who mean the absolute world to me and it’s an important time for myself as a person and as a family member.
“I’ve got some great friends who hopefully will be there to share this moment with me who have been there through the good times and the bad.”
Hart is ready to park that for now. Rangers are trying to chase Celtic down and the keeper knows there is no room for sentiment or error, starting with Sunday’s trip to Dundee.
“We’ve just got to take care of our business and focus on the next game.
“It’s a huge opportunity this week to get a good training week into us and go into a huge game at Dundee.
“Nothing is done, we’ve got a lot of hard work ahead of us but we’ve put ourselves in a good spot and we’re feeling good.”
Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has already warned his team that they can’t go soft.
Hart agreed and said: “We’re focused, 100 per cent. We’ve got a lot of energy and we’ve got a lot of hard work ahead of us.
“By no means have we strolled this season. We need to be at it to be successful.”
Celtic were made to work for the Scottish Cup semi win over Aberdeen. Hart knows there have been times when his team haven’t been at the top of his game but Celtic dug it out.
Perfect
The keeper said: “We’ve had warning signs all season. There’s no excuse. It’s not been a perfect season but we’re digging in.
“At the right moments we’re playing our stuff but there are also moments when the games are tight and tough and we’re still managing to do our thing.
The good thing for Celtic is that all their main players, like Callum McGregor, Cameron CarterVIckers and Reo Hatate, are back in the fold, apart from Daizen Maeda, who is making quicker than expected progress from a hamstring issue.
Hart said: “Hopefully we’re going to get Daizen back before the end of the season.