‘Celtic coach phoned to say sorry for behaviour’

Heart of Midlothian manager Derek McInnes says Celtic assistant coach Mark Fotheringham called him to apologise for his behaviour at Tynecastle last weekend.

McInnes raced into the Celtic technical area shortly after the visitors took an early lead through Benjamin Nygren’s free-kick before being ushered away by the fourth official.

After Stuart Findlay equalised, Yang Hyun-jun’s goal looked set to give the Glasgow side victory but Celtic’s Auston Trusty was sent off and Claudio Braga made it 2-2 to keep Hearts six points clear of the defending champions in the Scottish Premiership.

“I was annoyed. I’ve been up against loads of different dugouts over the years and loads of Celtic teams,” said McInnes about the reaction of Fotheringham, who had four months in charge of Huddersfield Town in 2022-23.

“And I was really annoyed by the reaction. It surprised me. And I thought it was out of order.

“In fairness to Mark, he’s not a boy I know too well, but I know people that know him and he’s a great lad, seemingly.

Hearts head to Dundee United on Saturday hoping to extend their lead at the top of the Premiership with Celtic and Rangers not playing until Sunday afternoon.

But McInnes says his players need to concentrate on what lies ahead of them rather than be concerned about how other teams will fare.

“I believe that we can win games, but you look at the next four fixtures, each one is a proper challenge for us,” he added.

“I’m just really concentrating on making sure we pick the right team and trying to get the right performance. It’s not really about mind games and trying to send out a signal.

“Take care of the game first, win the game, and then however people react to that is up to them.”

Hearts have confirmed Uganda forward Rogers Mato, 22, will join the club immediately after they agreed a loan until the end of the season with North Macedonian side Vardar.

McInnes is pleased to strengthen his options now, with Scotland striker Lawrence Shankland out until March with a hamstring strain.

“I think the club’s done well to get him this window. We were always hopeful of that. I think he’s an exciting young player,” he said.

“He brings a lot of pace. He can play across the front line. So he has great versatility.