Scottish Premier League: Celtic manager Gordon Strachan has banished all talk of Benfica as he prepares to face nearest challengers Hearts today. The Hoops boss is anxious not to allow Wednesday's 3-0 humbling in Lisbon to derail the club's Premier League title bid.
Strachan could not even utter the name of their Portuguese conquerors as he set his sights solely on the visit of the Edinburgh team. "We have told the players it is done. We spoke to them for about five minutes. It is Hearts, Hearts all the way now.
"We have no time to reflect on that. When we have got time, we'll get the head up next week and we'll take in the Hearts game and the game we have just played, digest it, analyse it."
Strachan is happy with the way his players are coping after the Champions League disappointment, and maintains every team must be prepared for defeat.
"They are fine, their training was excellent, it couldn't have been any better," Strachan said. "We know somewhere we are going to get beat. In the back of your mind you are ready for something.
"I think we handled the defeat at Manchester United by coming back with a win against Dunfermline. The attitude in the first half of that game was first class, probably our best performance after a Champions League game.
The reaction to the midweek defeat will be most closely observed in Gary Caldwell, who gifted Benfica two goals. But Strachan says his view that individuals should not be blamed was the same when a slack Thomas Gravesen pass led to United's winning goal at Old Trafford.
"There is a famous picture shown with me talking to Thomas," he said. "Of course, you play with the picture saying it was me berating Thomas for the pass. That's life, that's mischievous, nobody knows what I'm saying. The exact words were 'don't blame yourself'. I'm not having that here. We've all got a part, in any defeat. We take it as a squad."
Strachan dismissed suggestions that Hearts pose less of a danger amid their recent tribulations. Eduard Malofeev has taken over as head coach with Valdas Ivanauskas on sick leave and captain Steven Pressley revealed dressingroom "unrest" last week.
"There has been a lot of press coverage on Hearts over the last two years, but they always seem to give everybody a hard game."
Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc is in no danger of feeling the pressure over Celtic's 10-point lead at the top of the Premier League. "You will probably laugh at this but I don't actually know how many points we have got to be honest," Boruc said. "I don't watch any other games. I'm not interested in football really."
Boruc has also done his best to forget about the defeat in Benfica. "It's in the past," he said. "It was a bad experience but there is no point thinking about it all the time because your mentality can be wrong for the next game."
When asked if it was possible to forget about such a disappointing night, he replied: "Yes, trust me."
Celtic pair Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Thomas Gravesen have returned to training but will not be available for the visit of Hearts.
Vennegoor of Hesselink (ankle) and Gravesen (hamstring) may come back into contention next week, while Mark Wilson (broken foot) and Craig Beattie (hamstring) remain on the sidelines.
Hearts have two injury doubts ahead of the top-of-the-table clash. Chilean striker Mauricio Pinilla has a calf muscle problem, while forward Roman Bednar is carrying a heel injury.
Meanwhile, the hospital worker accused of invading a football pitch and shouting sectarian abuse at fans was today banned from every football ground in the UK.
Sean Gallagher appeared in court accused of running on to the pitch during last night's Uefa Cup tie between Rangers and Israeli side Maccabi Haifa.
The 21-year-old was allegedly wearing a Palestinian flag around his shoulders and a T-shirt with a picture of the Pope.
It is also alleged he shouted sectarian slogans at Rangers fans, causing anger among the crowd.
