Derek McInnes already knows what is coming at Tynecastle on Wednesday, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
"Well, the hope would be you get on to the pitch and clap the fans and there's an acknowledgement both ways," the Rangers manager said. "But that's not going to happen. I totally understand it, though." He has admitted feeling guilt about the way he left Hearts in the summer, and that is before you add the detail that Lawrence Shankland had already gone to Govan before him, with Cammy Devlin following afterwards. Both are injured and will miss the game.
Hearts have something to prove
McInnes came within minutes of winning Hearts a title in May. That is the context for whatever reception he gets. He then left, and the club he left behind sit four points behind the side he now manages, with a chance on Wednesday night to show that last season was not a one-off.
Ten days ago at Celtic Park they collapsed in spectacular fashion, which is the result still hanging over them. Beating Rangers under the lights at home would clear a lot of that air in 90 minutes.
Dundee United face a 34-year wall
Jim Goodwin takes his Dundee United side to Celtic Park with a run of five unbeaten behind them and fourth place to show for it, after an exhilarating 3-2 win over Aberdeen in filthy weather at Tannadice.
Goodwin has rebuilt himself as a coach, and he has been open about where the idea came from: Jens Berthel Askou's work at Motherwell last season. Expansive, continental football was never what anyone associated with Goodwin as a player or an Aberdeen and St Mirren manager. It is what United are playing now.
The record he is up against is absurd. Celtic have not lost at home to Dundee United in any competition since December 1992, a run of 51 matches. Goodwin has beaten the champions in two of his past three meetings with them, but both of those wins came at Tannadice. He has also seen what Martin O'Neill's side did to a bold Hearts team in their last home game, which is a warning rather than an encouragement.
Reedijk needs a result in Paisley
Hibernian are bottom. Marink Reedijk has lost his first three matches, the most recent of them narrowly to Celtic on Sunday, and he says the reaction from supporters after that game told him the club is heading the right way. Not everyone in Leith agrees. Bringing on centre-back Grant Hanley as a striker was the moment that tipped some fans from doubt into alarm, and Reedijk has said it is not something to expect again.
St Mirren at least look beatable. They had lost five in a row before Saturday's win over Dundee, and Hibs have lost only two of their past 14 league visits to Paisley. "The positivity in the club is really good," Reedijk said. "The second thing is we have also shown there is progress. Again, I'm a believer that the results will come. Do we need a win and a result? Yes, I understand that it's football."
Prediction: Hearts to take something off Rangers at Tynecastle, Celtic to keep the United hoodoo going, and Hibs to draw in Paisley and stay bottom.
Preview context: Scottish Premiership, Wednesday 28 October 2026. Hearts host Rangers at Tynecastle with Derek McInnes returning to his former club; Hearts sit four points behind Rangers. Celtic host Dundee United, unbeaten at home against them in 51 matches since December 1992. Bottom club Hibernian travel to St Mirren. Shankland and Devlin are injured. The prediction is our own.
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