Hart admits derby ‘mayhem’ meant he barely registered Arfield wonder save

JOE HART says he can’t remember anything about the crucial save he made from Rangers midfielder Scott Arfield that helped Celtic to a crucial draw in their quest for the Premiership title, with his instincts taking over amid the “mayhem” of the Old Firm derby.

The Celtic goalkeeper was partially to blame for Fashion Sakala’s equaliser on the day, the Rangers striker beating Hart at his near post with a fine low finish, but the former England No.1 came up with a brilliant stop late on to prevent the visitors from taking all three points. While the save was a critical moment in the match, Hart says he barely had time to think about it as the game roared on around him.

“Ah, look it is mayhem out there,” Hart said. “I love playing football, love being in goal and sometimes you do things that you ideally don’t want to do, that you know you are better than. And sometimes you do things where your body and your instincts take over, and I don’t know actually what happened, I just know it stayed out.

“I do [know it’s a big moment], but there is time to go. You know, they were fighting for their lives out there, it was more important they won than we won.

“I was well aware with, however minutes to go, I felt like we were going to get chances and they were probably going to get more…I think they hit the post after that. So look, tough game, but great game, really good game to be involved in.

“We’ve served up some good games this year. Two good teams, two contrasting styles. Obviously we play to win. We are in a good, strong position and we will take the draw and move into next week.”

The fact Celtic avoided defeat means they are surely in an insurmountable position at the top of the league table with just three games remaining, but Hart was still playing it coy on that front, a policy that has served him well to now.

“Look, you are never going to get me to sit here and say that [we have won the league] but I think we’ve worked very hard to be in this position,” he said.

“We’ve come through a lot and we are pleased with where we are and we’ve got a job to do. And that continues.

“I felt like we dominated [against Rangers] but they are a hard team to put away. They are resilient, and they are dangerous on the counter-attack and I think with our aggressive style of play, if we are not two or three goals ahead, people have always got a chance.

You know, they were fighting for their lives out there, it was more important they won than we won

“But we stick by those foundations, stick by that way of playing football. It has won us more than it has drawn us games. It is what it is, and we have another three big ones coming up.”

Hart saved special praise for the centre-back pairing in front of him, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Carl Starfelt, who he gives a large portion of the credit to for Celtic being in this position.

“Both of them have been superb,” he said. “There is no secret that at the start of the season we had a brand new back four, back five.

“We were playing in a system where the manager was very clear about what he wanted. There was no bedding in period in this way of football, you either play it or you don’t. I love how everyone has bought into it.

“Cam and Karl have obviously been lucky enough, actually the word is not lucky because they have deserved to play every week, to wear the shirt. But everyone who has had the opportunity to wear it has worn it with pride, has applied themselves properly to what they have been asked to do as a team.

“I would say a good majority of us have played to our level. That is the least you can ask when it comes to a season.

“The management and the set-up have allowed us to do that.”