What is it like for players in a title race?

ByThomas Duncan

BBC Sport Scotland

For fans as a title race comes to its conclusion, the overwhelming feeling is nervousness.

As Hearts and Celtic go into the penultimate round of games separated by a single point at the top of the Scottish Premiership it is more tension than enjoyment for supporters who have to endure the run-in before football nirvana or misery.

But what about the players at the centre of it all? They are the ones who have to perform under intense scrutiny and pressure.

BBC Sport Scotland asked former Celtic defender Darren O'Dea and ex-Hearts and Rangers midfielder Andy Halliday about what it's like in the spotlight.

Managers and players will often tell journalists it is one game at a time and their focus is purely on their own performances.

However, O'Dea says when it gets into the final few games, the mindset of players does change.

"You would definitely be looking at other results a lot more than what you would maybe normally do," the Irishman, who was part of the Celtic squad which won the title on the final day in 2008, said.

"The reality is you do concentrate on what other teams are doing. This season has shown you things flip back and forth. What you potentially need in terms of results changes."

Halliday agrees there is always an eye elsewhere, but nerves are ultimately a good thing.

"There's no margin for error, so you always want to do the basics extremely well," the retiring Motherwell midfielder said.

"You don't want to give up easy chances or easy goals. Nerves shows that you feel something when it comes to football. And I think the worry would always be if you don't feel the nerves.

"What is a nerve settler at times is when you've prepared well. If you go into a game with a clear game plan, with clear instructions on exactly what's expected of you, I think it settles you."

For Hearts and Celtic, key players have come to the fore in the past few weeks.

Captain Lawrence Shankland has scored six times in his last seven starts, including the equaliser against Motherwell and winner against Rangers.

Meanwhile at Celtic, Daizen Maeda produced two crucial goals in the Old Firm derby to take his tally to five in three post-split games.

As a centre-back, O'Dea says he always looked to the most talented and important players to step up and drag the rest of the team through.

Not every player in a winning squad thrives under pressure.

"Genuinely, you would rely on certain players," he said

"Big players win you championships. And that's how you define a big player really for me, is they arrive in the big moments.

"The players that I would have looked at is [Shunsuke] Nakamura, who always had a free kick in his locker even if he hadn't particularly had a great game.

"There was a moment in Scott McDonald, Aidan McGeady, whoever it was. The rest of us are literally just trying not to lose the game. But it's the reality, and you're just hoping these guys can come up with the goods."

As the vastly experienced pair of Martin O'Neill and Derek McInnes prepare their teams for a tense end to the season, Halliday believes neither will, nor should change anything in their demeanour or strategy.

"Modern footballers, I do think they need every bit of information possible," he said.

"So try and get as much of that into the players without having any grey areas involved.

"And I think if that's the case, then as players you can hold people accountable. But in terms of my manager, it's always kind of remaining the same whether you win or lose."

O'Dea agrees that an increase in effort and intensity in training comes at big points in the season, which means the manager does not need to add to the tension.

He said: "I can think back to Gordon Strachan, for instance. He probably would have become calmer the more the pressure heightened."

In the Celtic dressing room, there is experience of reeling off wins to secure a title.

Winning their last five league games nods to the defending champions' ability to harness experience.

They might not have been challenged to the final day much before, but in contrast to Hearts their winning experience is considerable.

"I honestly do feel that Celtic will be calm, just because they've been in this situation so many times before," Halliday said.

"Now, some people don't think that counts for much. For me, I personally do.

"Hearts have felt the pressure of being the team that's been hunted for 30 weeks consecutively now, and they've handled it already extremely well.

"You talk about a manager's role, I've no doubt whatsoever that Derek McInnes has played a huge part in that."

O'Dea also believes that however different players and managers handle these situations, neither Celtic nor Hearts, who have come from behind to take points in their last five games, have shown signs of toiling.

"Both teams have an abundance of character," he said.

"I don't know if I could pick a winner in terms of the character from both groups, they've both shown it, so it makes for a good ending."