Hearts' last trip to Parkhead ended with their crestfallen players being bundled out of a chaotic Celtic Park and back on to the team bus in their strips and boots after watching their title dream die in the space of 11 crushing minutes. Meanwhile, the 800 Jambos in attendance - and the thousands back in Gorgie - were going through their own football trauma. The mere thought of ever returning to the home of the Scottish Premiership champions would have been a harrowing one.
However, refreshed and reshaped, Wouter Vrancken's men are embracing the trip to face a Celtic side still failing to convince a support that are becoming increasingly disgruntled after another chastening European defeat at Benfica. Earlier this week, influential Hearts investor Tony Bloom repeated his faith in his title ambition for the Tynecastle club Sunday's fixture ( ) will give an indication as to whether or not that is likely to come this season. O'Neill defiant in defeat, but Celtic's 'flat-track bullies' fail another big test Celtic suffer fourth defeat in five against classy Benfica Late Nordsjaelland leveller denies Hearts winning start Despite the back story to this weekend's encounter, Vrancken has demanded his side do not "live in the past".
Meanwhile, Oisin McEntee, who was part of last season's squad, has insisted the trip to Glasgow is not a revenge mission. Versatile McEntee scored Hearts' opener against Nordsjaelland as they raised the curtain on their Conference League campaign, but they were served a late punch in the gut in the 1-1 draw. The Gorgie side have only won two of their past 11 away league outings, failing to keep a clean sheet in that period.
However, last weekend's 5-0 win over St Mirren forms part of a run of five victories and a draw in seven matches under Vrancken after a challenging introduction to his tenure. Now with the opportunity to make a real statement early in his reign, the Belgian coach is urging his players not to dwell on May's heartbreak. "I'm convinced the players will be [focused] on the game on Sunday and not in the past," he said.
"You can't live in the past. You have to move forward and look forward, and you have to take on the next one. "I hope the fire is there every game we play, and not only because something happened in the past.
You also don't look in the past too much because it is negative energy, and we need positive energy. "This fire has to burn when you play every game, especially the top games." Post-match in Lisbon on Thursday, Martin O'Neill expressed the emotions of a man who had just watched his team cruise to a 4-1 triumph. But the 74-year-old had just witnessed his side suffer a reverse of that, a fourth defeat in five games.
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