'Hunt them down': Hearts sent bullish title message by Celtic as 24y/o shuts down 'big deal'

Hearts sat top of the table on Christmas Day with a six-point advantage over defending champions Celtic, who sit in second place with a game in hand.

The two teams were level on points before they met in new Celtic manager Wilfried Nancy’s first game in charge on December 7. However, Hearts won 2-1 at Parkhead - a defeat that sparked a further three losses in all competitions before Celtic rediscovered the winning feeling last weekend at home to Aberdeen.

Celtic’s next assignment is away to Livingston on Saturday before they face Motherwell on Tuesday - while Hearts are inactive - and then an Old Firm clash with Rangers on January 3.

The matches are coming thick and fast for Celtic as they get to grips with a new system under Nancy, but Nygren wants to embrace what lies ahead for him and the rest of the players.

Celtic change of system ‘not a big deal’

“We are very excited,” said Nygren. “We will hunt them down. The manager has a different way of playing but at the end it’s football. I don’t think it’s too much of a difference as its 11 versus 11 on the pitch. You can see from many perspectives. In the game, no matter the system, you are always moving. It’s not like you are static in a 4-3-3 or whatever.

“I’ve had a lot of managers who play in a little bit of different ways, but I think in the end, it’s football. And I think it’s something maybe people around talk about more than I think—I don’t think it’s that big of a deal or that complicated.

“For example, the team I played in before [FC Nordsjaelland], on paper we played 4-3-3, but in the game, you could say that we played a 3-4-3 or a 3-5-2 or sometimes even two in the back when we pushed both wing-backs up, for example. So, how it is on the paper and in the actual game, I think is very different, and you can see it from so many perspectives.

“The team always sticks together, coaches and all of the players, and everyone in the squad has really high confidence – that’s why we are at Celtic. You need that at a massive club like this.

“We’re in this all together. It’s not the players and the manager; it’s all of us together. We’re one team—we lose together, we win together. So I was very pleased [after Aberdeen] for the manager, staff, players - everyone involved.”

Nygren believes that the manner of the display and victory against Aberdeen - Celtic created 31 chances - shows they are able to go on a sustained winning run. “I think it was a great performance, and if we can put in more good performances, we will win a lot more games,” the Swede added.