Craig Levein admits Celtic are so far ahead of the rest of Scottish football that his spying mission at Hamilton last Friday was a waste of time.

Hearts make the trip to the Superseal stadium tomorrow but Levein concedes he learned nothing new from Accies’ 4-1 defeat to Brendan Rodgers’ side.

Four days later, Levein watched how the domestic gulf is being replicated at European level after PSG, including £364million pair Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, ran riot on their way to winning 5-0 in a Champions League clash.

He said: “I went to watch Hamilton on Friday against Celtic. Certain things come back and I’m thinking ‘why am I watching this?’ 

“They are clearly very far ahead of the rest in terms of Scotland.”

Levein is hoping to kick-start Hearts’ season with three points at Hamilton after being denied a winning return to the dugout in last weekend’s goal-less draw with Aberdeen following a goalkeeping masterclass from Joe Lewis.

He added: “I’m still disappointed we never won the game, that will never change. We need wins, it’s a simple game – you need to win. 

“We intend to do our best to win the game on Saturday but we have to recognise that our record through there is not particularly good and it will be a tough match, it will be a fight but it always is. We have to go and be prepared for that.”

Levein won’t underestimate Accies and admits he’s a fan of the work being carried out in Lanarkshire by gaffer Martin Canning.

He added: “Hamilton are a tough team to play against, we haven’t won against them in a while, which tells its own story.

“They are very well organised and I’m a big fan of Martin  and the people at Hamilton who stuck with him last season after a tough spell.

“He’s got the team heading in the right direction so it will be a hard game for us. What will be encouraging is that we have sold a fair number of tickets and there will be quite a big travelling support coming through, so that will help us.”