Beating Celtic may mean I can't get back into Hearts team, says Souttar

John Souttar admits he can have no complaints if he fails to win back his Hearts slot after Craig Levein's side stunned Celtic.

The Scotland Under-21 defender was suspended for last Sunday's Tynecastle showdown as the Jambos became the first Scottish side in 70 attempts to topple the Hoops with an incredible 4-0 triumph.

But, having previously started every game when fit for Levein's side, Souttar now admits he may have to be content with a spot on the bench as the Gorgie side look to make it four straight wins when they take on St Johnstone in Perth on Saturday.

I can't have any arguments after that performance,'' said the former Dundee United centre-back.

It's quite a unique situation to find yourself suspended on the back of two wins. You'd usually hope to find yourself back in the team, but in this case there will be no complaints if I'm not.

It was an incredible performance from everyone last weekend. The boys played out their skins from the back-line to the front.

Sometimes you get days like that when everything clicks. Christophe Berra and Michael Smith set the tone from the first minute by winning a few headers and it went from there.

I'd have loved to have been out there. It was a hell of a game to miss, but that's football.''

Hearts took time to adjust after Levein made his return to the dug-out earlier this season, but are now looking to build up some serious momentum as the second half of the season looms.

Clashes with city rivals Hibernian and second-placed Aberdeen follow later this week and Souttar reckons his side could make a serious statement if they can carry on their winning run.

He said: It just shows you how quickly things can change. We were sitting here a couple of weeks ago and there was a lot of negativity around the place - more from the outside as we always believed in ourselves inside the dressing room.

However, the table reads a lot better now and the place is really positive.

The gaffer is very experienced. He's been through situations like this in his career before. He was relaxed so that made us players relax.

He always seemed confident that things would turn around and hopefully these three wins will be the turning point for our season.

We now have a big week and hopefully we can end the first half of the season on a high.

St Johnstone have had a good result of their own away at Ibrox so they will be confident too.

We'll just need to be at the top of our game like we were last Sunday. It'll be a lot different in terms of tactics as St Johnstone are completely different to Celtic and you won't have the same atmosphere around the place that we got at Tynecastle.

But we want to get into the top four and so this is they type of game you need to get something from.'