Lawrence Shankland set for a Celtic Park first as Hearts try to extend unbeaten league run after European trip

Shankland's only appearance at the Parkhead ground came during Covid lockdown for Dundee United. They suffered a 3-0 defeat in December 2020 in the eerie closed-doors atmosphere.

A boisterous Celtic support shouldn't overly faze him. As Zurich ultras baited, booed and whistled behind their goal on Thursday in Switzerland, Shankland was the epitome of composure holding the ball after Adrian Guerrero fouled Nathaniel Atkinson inside the penalty area.

He calmly placed it on the spot and drove it unreservedly low into the net, silencing the locals as Hearts played out a 2-1 loss in their Europa League play-off first leg.

"I think the linesman gave the penalty eventually. The ref said 'no' at first but the linesman has obviously seen something," explained the forward. "I was just keen to grab the ball and it took a wee while. I just had to stay composed.

"The noise level lifted a fair bit because it was at the Zurich end. I was confident and managed to stay calm. I hit a good penalty and thankfully it went in. I've probably been in that situation before but probably not of that magnitude in an important game. As always, I was just delighted to see it hit the net."

Should Shankland find himself placing the ball on the spot 12 yards out in front of a baying Celtic support tomorrow, he will be slightly surprised. The Zurich penalty gives him an idea of how to deal with such a scenario in any case.

"That will be good preparation if we get one there [at Celtic]. I doubt it, right enough," he laughed. "The more practice you can get in those situations the better because then you can deal with that pressure.

"I've only played there once with Dundee United and it was during lockdown so the place was empty. We lost 3-0 in the end.