Luke McCowan: We want to enjoy and cherish Scottish Cup tie | OneFootball

Celtic clash swords with Hibernian this weekend for the fifth time this season, with the possibility of a sixth clash looming after the split as the Edinburgh side are in a prime spot to finish in the top six.

The reason for the glut of games, of course, is that the teams have been drawn against each other in both domestic cup competitions, with this weekend’s game being in the Scottish Cup.

The League Cup meeting back in August, and, for that matter, the first SPFL clash between the clubs came before Luke McCowan joined the Hoops from Dundee.

The midfielder did, however, play for the Dens Park side in a 2-2 draw at Easter Road the weekend immediately following Celtic’s League Cup win over Hibs.

Indeed, that was his last game for Dundee and seven days later he was making his Hoops debut in the 3-0 win over Rangers.

Since then, McCowan has played in the 3-0 win over Hibs in December, and also featured in the recent 2-1 defeat at Easter Road so, after experiencing both side of the coin against the capital club, he is looking forward to this Scottish Cup clash, a knock-out game with the added spice of around 7,000 away fans inside Celtic Park.

Speaking ahead of the game, McCowan said: “We’re looking forward to it – knock-out football, you can’t get much better than that when you’re involved in it.

“Obviously, they get to bring a bigger allocation than normal as well, so that will be exciting for the neutral I’d imagine, but we’re focused on the game and really looking forward to it.

“And by enjoying it, you need to go and put a performance on that leads to you going through.”

An erroneous VAR call denied Celtic an equaliser at Easter Road and deprived the team of the possibility of at least one point in that last game against Hibs.

The manner of the loss only added to the disappointment of the outcome of the match, albeit against a Hibs side on top of their game amid a lengthy unbeaten run.

McCowan said: “I don’t think there’s a sense of frustration, but we want to go and put on a good performance and show that the last performance wasn’t great. So that will be the main aim come Sunday.

“They are on a great run, they will be coming into the game confident and they will be sure that they can get something from the game.

“And, as I said, we just need to go out there and perform well, and hopefully that leads to us going through.”

The game, although coming at the business end of the season, arrives at the end of a rare match-free midweek for the Celts, who have played no fewer than 18 such games so far this term.

With constant midweek matches now off the schedule, it looks like there will be even more competition for places in the side each weekend now.

The midfielder said: “You know that come week to week, there probably aren’t going to be as many changes in a team.

“You just want to do your best out on the training pitch, and your best come the game to make sure you’re making an impact, and make sure that you’re in with a chance to get in the starting team.

“So that’s the message for everybody in the team and in the squad - knowing how great a squad we’ve got, being able to push each other and maximise the performance.”

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Celtic Vs. Hibernian - Sun, Mar 9th 2025, 15:00 Final score: 2 - 0 Match Report