Wilfried Nancy believes his Celtic players are truly worthy of claiming the first trophy of the season at Hampden tomorrow, despite the club undergoing significant changes.

The French manager is feeling the heat as he prepares to face St Mirren in Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup final. This pressure comes after an unprecedented start, where he became the first Parkhead manager to lose his initial two matches, against Hearts and Roma.

While Nancy views a win as a potential turning point for his nascent project, he emphasizes that victory would hold greater significance for his players. This follows a turbulent 48-day stretch marked by the departure of one manager, the appointment of an interim boss, and now the challenge of adapting to Nancy’s methods following his transition from Columbus Crew.

“This is not about me,” Nancy states. “It’s more about the club and the players. I understand our current position and our aspirations.”

“I recognize the areas that need improvement, but this is truly for the players. They deserve this victory after all the changes and challenges they’ve faced,” Nancy adds.

Celtic manager Wilfried Nancy is hoping to kickstart his career in Glasgow with a win tomorrow

His side were ripped apart by Roma at Parkhead on Thursday in the Europa League

The pressure is already building on the Frenchman ahead of this weekend’s cup final

Nancy’s team were booed off the field at Parkhead on Thursday night after they were outclassed by Roma in a 3-0 Europa League defeat, just four days after Hearts moved three points clear at the top of the Premiership with a 2-1 win at the same venue.

The 48-year-old acknowledged it would be ‘difficult’ and ‘painful’ if Celtic lose a third game in a row under his tenure by failing to defend the League Cup trophy against a fired-up St Mirren side.

He has suffered in comparison to Martin O’Neill, who proved a steady hand as caretaker boss following Brendan Rodgers’ departure, helping to obliterate Hearts’ nine-point lead at the top of the league table before last Sunday’s seismic victory for the Tynecastle men.

Asked how important tomorrow’s final was for him in terms of bringing the fans on board, Nancy replied: ‘For me, no. For my players, yes, and for the fans, yes, because like I said, you start to know me now.

‘Yes, I would like to win the trophy. I’m pretty sure that, if we don’t win it, it’s going to be difficult because when we lose, it is painful.

‘But I am optimistic as a person, so hopefully we’re going to do it, and also it’s going to validate what we are doing.

Claudio Braga got on the scoresheet for Hearts last Sunday as Nancy got off to a losing start

‘But I don’t want to think about if not, because I want to stay positive, and this is the way I think.

‘And, again, I’m going to have many other times to do my stuff and to convince the fans that I am the right guy.

‘To be honest, it is not difficult to prepare for the game. It’s a final, so in terms of motivation and stimulation it’s going to be there, no doubt.

‘So we’re going to mix everything, put in a team with fresh players to go and win this cup. It doesn’t change. A final is final.

‘Obviously, the fact that we didn’t win the last two games, mentally, it could be that we have a bit of a uncertainty, I would say.

‘But, to be honest, having had a good discussion with the players, we know what we did well, we know what we need to improve and everything is clear, and they are really focused on this game.’

Nancy believes valuable lessons were learned against Roma, where the defeat kept Celtic 24th in the league phase with seven points from six of eight fixtures completed.

He said: ‘The opposition was really good. 

‘Despite the fact that we lost, this was really good for us to play against a team like this, because this is the standard that we want, in terms of the intensity of the runs, but also the aggression.

‘Obviously we had difficult moments, but we also had good moments and, for me, this is really important because I believe totally in my players and what they can do.

‘And so the idea now is to find resources to bounce back. So now we move forward, we have a game, as you know, in two days, and this is the most important thing.’

St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson will fancy his chances of exposing any Celtic frailties

Meanwhile, Auchinleck Talbot have moved their Scottish Cup fourth round tie against Celtic to Kilmarnock’s Rugby Park.

Following meetings with East Ayrshire Council, Police Scotland, and the Scottish FA, the West of Scotland League Premier Division club said there were ‘various concerns the club could not ignore’ in relation to their stadium hosting the fixture.

Their Beechwood Park ground holds around 4,500 fans, compared to the Premiership side’s 15,000 supporters, which is around 16 miles away.

In a statement, Auchinleck Talbot said: ‘Although Beechwood Park meets and goes beyond the SFA Club Licensing Entry Level criteria in certain areas, various concerns the club could not ignore arose in relation to the ability of the surrounding infrastructure to cope with such a high-profile event that has brought worldwide interest to the village of Auchinleck & Auchinleck Talbot F.C.’