Alistair Johnston acknowledges why so many people who usually dismiss Scottish football are now fully engaged. The prospect of Hearts winning the title for the first time since 1960 transcends the game and attracts neutrals. Footballing fairytales are an enduring appeal of sport, with everyone loving an underdog having its day.
That is, unless you stand to lose as a direct result. With the title on the line, the Canadian is happy for him and his teammates to be cast as the villains if it means the biggest prize stays in Celtic's grasp.
"It's nice to a degree; you want to be the team that is the historical winner," he said. "You want to be a team known for getting things across the line and never being out of it. I get it. It's the same growing up in North America and other sports. You always want to cheer for the underdog."
"They've got a chance. There's no doubt about that. They just need to come to Celtic Park and get a result. And it would be some feat obviously for them. How many years has it been since a team outside of Glasgow has done it?"
"But at the same time, that trophy means just as much to us. We're desperate for that league title as well. We know how much we've put in this season to keep ourselves in it, to give ourselves this opportunity. We're not too bothered what the rest of the world thinks."
Credit must go to Celtic. When they left Tannadice defeated in March, they looked broken. Since then, six straight league wins and seven victories overall have kept their double hopes alive. The character shown to work into this position is beyond reproach.
"I never felt that we were out of it," Johnston insisted. "We all know how good the players are in that squad, one through 30. So, I never thought we didn't have the talent to compete. At some points you look at the table and go, okay, we need to keep other teams in sight. And we've managed to do that. We've managed to claw and fight and stay in this."
Having come so far, they now want to take the final step. Naturally, they want to do it for themselves and their supporters, but there's a palpable desire to do it for Martin O'Neill in what seems set to be his last league match as a manager.
"You can hear it from the fans, how much he means to this football club," said Johnston. "The fact that he's come back a second time now, at his age, he still has that thrill for it and that rush of being out there. He's been great for the group. He's always provided something. Whether you're struggling or it's not going great, you can look over and go, all right, well, this guy's still out here grinding away, putting in the hard hours because he loves this football club that much and cares that much about it."
"So, yeah, it's always a good motivational fact when you look over to him. We'd love to do that for him, this whole staff, and also just this fan base that stuck with us through a quite difficult season."
The significance of potentially landing title No. 56 and moving ahead of Rangers won't be lost on anyone shoe-horning into the ground at lunchtime.
"I think the Scottish boys would be quite aware of it," said Johnston. "For us, there are so many trophies in this club's pretty storied trophy cabinet. And if you can add one, no matter what number it is to the cabinet, and etch yourself in a small part of this club's history, you're doing something special."
