Hartley knows that the Champions of Scotland will have to finally overcome
their Champions League travel sickness when they journey to Denmark to face Aalborg next week. Celtic will have to break the mould they've set for this tournament, and hope the other result in the group goes their way, if they want to pip Villarreal for second place in the table and progress to the next phase.
their Champions League travel sickness when they journey to Denmark to face Aalborg next week. Celtic will have to break the mould they've set for this tournament, and hope the other result in the group goes their way, if they want to pip Villarreal for second place in the table and progress to the next phase.
They may only have two points from the four group games played so far and they may have to look for favours from the Old Trafford team but Celtic are still alive and kicking and a last sixteen place is still within their grasp "We're still in with a chance," said the midfielder. "We have to rely on Manchester United beating Villarreal but anything is possible and I'm confident we can win our two games. We know ourselves what we have to do."
He's a wee bit fed-up with the constant references to their failure on the road and he knows how difficult it will be to silence the criticism "Everybody keeps going on about our away form but we know the situation. It's not through a lack of effort. We try as hard as we can when we go abroad but there are no easy games in the Champions League and it won't be easy in Denmark but we'll give it our all."
Hartley is in a rich vein of form at the moment and he popped up with a late winner against Hamilton Accies at the weekend as the team notched up their tenth win in a row in the SPL. He's been pleased with the team's reaction since their only defeat, at home to the huns, earlier this season "Losing the derby game in August was a disappointment but we put it behind us and responded in the right way," the midfielder said. "We wanted to go on a good run and we have done that. It was the perfect way to bounce back but we need to keep that winning mentality. The run won't go on forever but those points will account for a big chunk of our final tally and that will be important when the title is being dished out in May."
"We've set a standard and we need to keep it up. The confidence is there within the squad and we're happy to be on top of the table. But I can assure everyone that we won't take anything for granted." he continued "Last year Rangers had a good lead but all it took was a couple of defeats and things changed. Where do we go from here? We just have to keep winning."
"We've set a standard and we need to keep it up. The confidence is there within the squad and we're happy to be on top of the table. But I can assure everyone that we won't take anything for granted." he continued "Last year Rangers had a good lead but all it took was a couple of defeats and things changed. Where do we go from here? We just have to keep winning."
Playing for the team he supported as a boy really is a dream come true for Paul Hartley. There is only one place to play football as far as he's concerned and that's at Paradise with the team he loves. It took him a long, long time to finally realise his ambition and he wants to live this hooped dream a while longer "'The last two years have absolutely flown by," he said. "I've enjoyed every minute of it though, I just love being a Celtic player. There is simply no better club to be at. This is where you want to play football and I'd love to stay here for the rest of my career."