Neil Alexander warns Celtic that Hearts are chasing cup upset
Goalkeeper Neil Alexander believes Hearts can find a way past Celtic as he chases a hat-trick of Scottish League Cup winners' medals.
Alexander played for Rangers in the 2010 and 2011 finals against St Mirren and Celtic and sees no reason why he cannot return to Hampden with the Ladbrokes Championship winners, who host the Hoops in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.
"I've won it twice so I've got a wee bit experience in this competition," the 37-year-old said. "It's the first cup final of the season and getting to Hampden gives your whole season a lift.
"We will go into every cup competition this season trying to win it. To win the cups you have got to beat the best and for the last few seasons Celtic have been the best.
"It would give everyone a huge lift, it keeps that winning run going and the confidence we have. And hopefully that can give your league form a springboard as well.
"It's important to keep that winning momentum from last season. We have a dressing room full of winners and we do feel we can do something this year."
Celtic have returned to the top of the Premiership in recent weeks, but question marks remain about their new-look defence, which has conceded 11 goals in their last five European games.
Alexander said: "First and foremost Celtic are a fantastic team and they've got really good individuals, so we are going to give them the respect they deserve, but every team has strengths and weaknesses.
"Week in, week out, we try to expose teams' weaknesses and combat their strengths. This is no different to any other game. We will study them, do our homework, and hopefully that might be to our advantage."
Hearts left-back Juwon Oshaniwa is back in training after missing the victory over Ross County with a hamstring strain.
Forward Gavin Reilly returns from suspension and Blazej Augustyn is available despite being sent off against County on Saturday.
Defender Alim Ozturk (hernia) remains out while striker Soufian El Hassnaoui (knee) is still working his way back.
Celtic left-back Emilio Izaguirre is available despite having stitches in his ear following a training-ground clash with Nadir Ciftci.
Saidy Janko is doubtful after taking a kick but James Forrest has trained for four days after recovering from a knock.
Charlie Mulgrew (thigh) is still out while Carlton Cole is still building up his fitness but Scott Allan is getting closer to a comeback after playing 80 minutes for the under-20s on Monday.
Celtic comfortably knocked Hearts out of both cups last term but Robbie Neilson's side were focused on promotion and are now more eager for cup success.
They also showed their improvement by holding Celtic to a goalless draw at Parkhead last month.
Deila said: "We should have won that game but it's going to be a different game when we play away.
"They are a good team and we have to be up for the fight first of all. And we need to get the quality on the pitch so we can score some goals and get the win.
"They are coming up to be a Premiership team and they are number three in the league so they are one of the best teams in the country right now. They have improved but they were good last year as well so it's no surprise to me that they are where they are just now. They are a big club.
"They are a physical team but we handled that well when we played at Celtic Park. We should have scored goals. That was missing but we beat them twice last year so we have confidence going into this game."
Source: PAR
