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As stated by interim boss Martin O'Neill, Wilfried Nancy will be on the Celtic touchline for Sunday's Scottish Premiership match against Heart of Midlothian.

Columbus Crew's head coach has been involved in serious talks with the Glasgow club for nearly seven days and now looks set to wrap up an agreement.

Martin O'Neill has served as caretaker manager for over a month since Brendan Rodgers stepped down, achieving six victories out of seven games, reducing Hearts' lead of the Scottish Premiership while also steering the Parkhead outfit to League Cup final spot.

The 73-year-old, who previously managed the club between 2000 to 2005, had already indicated he thought the visit to Easter Road – a 2-1 victory – was likely to be his final act in his second spell in charge.

However, O'Neill revealed he is to manage the team for the midweek Premiership match with Dundee before Wilfried Nancy takes over.

"He is the man who will be coming in," O'Neill told TalkSport. "I thought my time was up on Sunday, but there's some formalities still to be dealt with. Wednesday will definitely be my last match."

A Surreal Spell

"This has been surreal," he added. "It's like a part of your life that makes you wonder 'did that actually occur?' Am I pleased to have taken it on? Absolutely."

If the Hoops beat their opponents and the Jambos see off Killie in midweek, the incoming boss could lead Celtic to summit of the Premiership with a victory in his debut game as manager.

"It's a nice one for Nancy versus Hearts," remarked O'Neill. "A good way to start. It is going to be a tough match of course and I wish him well. At the very least he's getting a team full of self-belief."

This self-belief is a result of the positive run during games in the last month or so, where he has suffered just one defeat – a three-one defeat away to the Danish side in the Europa League.

However, the former Republic of Ireland national team boss and his players subsequently managed to secure a first away win on the continent since way back in 2021 with a win over Feyenoord 3-1 recently.

Rebuilding Belief

"We were defeated to Midtjylland," O'Neill said. "That was a difficult match – a few weeks earlier they mauled Forest, so that was a challenge. To travel to De Kuip and win on their patch was terrific. We have given the team a chance, there are three games left to attempt qualification, however, the victory in Rotterdam was a restoration of belief."

Future Ambitions

Upon being asked for his reflections during his time as caretaker, O'Neill says it has led to thoughts on if he would like to carry on managing going forward.

"I genuinely don't know," he said. "I'll take a wee think on everything following the match on Wednesday."

"It was challenging," he added. "There was the fear of failing – that is an ever-present major worry. I used to boast I could do the job equally as badly as a lot of other gaffers."

"I have learned much. I have had some excellent young coaches alongside me and it has served as a refresh personally in many ways, working with young people every day."

A Potential Advisory Position?

On the subject of if he might remain with the club in a consultancy role, the former Leicester City, Villa and Republic of Ireland manager stated this is entirely the decision of Nancy.

"That is really for the new boss to decide," O'Neill stated. "He should be given free reign. Should he desire my opinion on things, that's fine. If not, that's not a problem either. It's very much his squad the minute he enters the job."

TalkSport host Jim White concluded by asking if O'Neill whether he might get emotional when the full-time whistle blew in the Dundee game.

"Are you asking am I going to cry?" O'Neill responded. "Please don't be stupid."