Hearts superfans remain 'supremely confident' for title win over Celtic

Hearts superfans maintain their team will win the Scottish Premiership after a controversial 99th-minute penalty against Motherwell kept Celtic's title hopes alive.

"We've came this far and got this close - I'm still supremely confident we're going to get it over the line," said Colin Brown, a Jambo who has travelled from Australia to see the drama unfold.

Hearts' 3-0 victory against Falkirk, coupled with a Celtic loss, would have seen the Tynecastle side win the league with a game to spare.

But with both title contenders winning, it will now come down to the final match of the season between Celtic and Hearts in Glasgow on Saturday.

Colin has spent A$4,500 (£2,408) on flights to be in Edinburgh this week in the hope he will see his team win the Scottish Premiership title.

If Hearts win it will be the club's first top flight title since 1960 - and the first time in more than 40 years that a team other than Celtic or Rangers has won the league.

After Wednesday's fixtures, they are on 80 points - the biggest haul of any non-Old Firm team in Premiership history. Celtic are a point behind on 79.

"We've been comfortable this season against Celtic so I've got all the faith in the team," said Colin who is originally from Edinburgh.

He told BBC Radio Scotland Breakfast: "The mentality that head coach Derek McInnes has drilled into the team is just phenomenal - they are a unit."

"I knew when I booked my flight it was going to go down to the last game and I maintain we are going to do it."

A season ago, Hearts finished seventh, a full 42 points behind Celtic.

Now Colin says that all his team need now is a draw at Parkhead to take the Premiership victory.

The Edinburgh team last came close to a top-flight league win in 1986.

However, it slipped through their fingers after a loss against Dundee at Den's Park, and Celtic took the trophy instead.

Despite the pressure on the Jam Tarts, Colin has managed to throw off any last-minute nerves.

"Watching Hearts play last night and all season, the team get the job done and do what is required," he said.

"I have got all my faith in this team."

Colin is not the only superfan who has travelled across the world in the hope of seeing Hearts win the Scottish Premiership title.

Mark Speakman, who has spent more than A$30,000 (£16,077) to be in Scotland for the last five matches of the season, said he never thought Hearts would be challenging for the title.

"I cannot put a price on it, if it cost £100,000 it would not bother me at all," he said.

Mark, who has lived in Australia for 20 years, said he watches Hearts matches before going to work and has had to take unpaid leave to travel over to Edinburgh with his wife, 23-year-old son, and his son's girlfriend.

But he has his reservations about Saturday's match after the referee awarded Celtic a spot-kick for handball deep into injury time on Wednesday night.

"After last night's game and what has happened this season with decisions and refereeing, we're possibly going to playing against 12 men - 11 players and the referee," he said.

"But if Hearts show up and do the job, I'll be delighted.

"Hopefully we'll be defending champions and I'll be back next year when Hearts are in the same position again."

Jenny Addison had a season ticket for Hearts for 20 years before she moved to Auckland, New Zealand in 2018.

Having spent more than 30 hours travelling back to Edinburgh, where he dad still lives, she said she would have "regretted it forever" if she had not come back to be part of it all.

"Win or lose, I will be in floods of tears and I wanted to be doing that in Edinburgh rather than New Zealand," she told the BBC.

But she said it has been "unfortunate" that the last 48 hours of the season leading up to the final game has been plagued with controversy.

"If last night had been straightforward Hearts and Celtic wins, we could have talked about how amazing this season has been," Jenny added.

"It has been an absolute fairytale for Hearts."

On the flip side, Celtic fans are equally confident that their team will secure their 14th Premiership win in 15 years on Saturday.

"Hearts have been great all season and they deserve to be where they are," said Tino Callaghan from the Celtic Exchange podcast.

"But now Celtic have the chance to get the job done in front of 59,000 Celtic fans on Saturday and I think they'll do it."

He said it has been an "up-and-down" season for Celtic but his team are still very much in the mix after their win at Fir Park.

"Hearts were impressive and got their big win, Celtic got their win and it's now a straight shoot out for the title which is as exciting as it can be," Tino said.

"This is the biggest week in Celtic's season for a long, long time.

"We can all look forward to Saturday and I hope it's a game befitting of the occasion."