Beattie seeks Hampden repeat

Published on Friday 13 April 2012 02:34

CRAIG Beattie says facing old club Celtic will make Sunday's Scottish Cup semi-final an even more special occasion – but it is a dramatic match-winning outing with Scotland that the Hearts striker will be trying to repeat.

Three of Beattie's international caps were won at Hampden and his last-minute winning goal for Scotland in a 2-1 victory over Georgia in 2007 is the moment he would love to recreate against Celtic this weekend. "That was a great day. It's right up there as one of the best days of my football career. It was a 92nd-minute winner against Georgia at Hampden in a European Championships qualifier. It was a really good day and hopefully I don't leave it as late on Sunday!

"Hampden is a great venue. I was involved in the play-offs final last year at Wembley and there was nearly 90,000 people there. It was a fantastic day. But to come back and play in the Scottish league and to where I've played for my country, and scored goals for my country, it's going to be a great day."

Beattie readily accepts that Celtic will be expected to take a step closer to the double by seeing off Hearts but said: "Sometimes form goes out the window when you come to these games and it's time for big players with big shoulders to step up and really perform."

Taken from the Scotsman