It was a relief for the former Coventry number one after Swedish management duo Tommy Soderberg and Lars Lagerback threatened his place if he was unable to command a regular slot in the Celtic team.

Hedman got into the XI following an injury to Douglas just before kick-off on Boxing Day and he is determined to hold onto the gloves.

“I was dropped at Coventry when Chris Kirkland as playing, but I still played six World Cup qualifiers for Sweden and kept six clean sheets,” he said.

“I was talking to the Swedish manager about the statement I read in the paper and if you don’t play week in, week out it’s up to them to make a decision – but I know I’m experienced enough to handle that.

“Some managers like to make it a principle that if you don’t play every week you can’t play for your country.

“If that’s the case you just have to accept it.

“But obviously now I’m getting fit and getting sharper and sharper, my aim now is to play as many games as possible for Celtic.”

Hedman is set to have an extended stay in the side as Douglas is due to have a hernia operation in the new year.

His manager, however, feels that Douglas has a chance of being fit for Sunday’s game against Dunfermline to give him a big selection dilemma.

Martin O’Neill said: “I don’t know if Rab will be ready for the Dunfermline game – but if determination counts, he will be ready to play.

“Rab was excellent for us against Dundee and kept us in the game, not only with the penalty save, but a terrific save before that. To me that changed the course of the game.

“He was desperately disappointed to miss the Hearts game and he still wanted to have a go.”

Dunfermline will be looking for a big response of their own after losing to Kilmarnock on Boxing Day.

But with arch rivals Rangers now just a point ahead with two games remaining before the winter break, Dunfermline manager Jimmy Calderwood expects Celtic to come out firing on all cylinders.

Calderwood admits that he still does not know how to orchestrate a win in Glasgow, and that scoring an early goal tomorrow could be disastrous.

“Martin won’t be resting any of the big guys now with the championship race so close,” said Calderwood.

“The Old Firm are still daunting opposition, but I’ve seen signs that my team believe they can beat them.

“But they have big John in marvellous form and they’ve got players like Henrik and Chris who aren’t too bad either.

“I still don’t know how to beat them. If you score early in the first 20 minutes that’s the worst thing you can do as they will hit you twice as hard.

“You need luck and to stop them from scoring and if you quieten the crowd then you have a shout, but even then they have players who can change the game with a blink of the eye.”