Goals from Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, Scott McDonald and Andreas Hinkel secured all three points against a rejuvenated Hearts team at Celtic Park yesterday.

The result allowed the Scottish champions to slash Rangers' lead at the top of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League to a single point ahead of today's game at Kilmarnock. It also sets up Celtic nicely for another major European night in the east end of Glasgow.

The Catalan giants visit on Wednesday night in the last 16 of the tournament and Celtic know they are set to face their biggest test yet this season.

And Donati, who was restored to the starting line-up ahead of Paul Hartley yesterday, admitted the victory will help Celtic keep their focus.

"It was important to win the game to allow us to concentrate on the next game," Donati said.

"We are hoping for a good result against Barcelona. We know it will be a difficult game, because all the teams left in the Champions League are good teams."

Celtic overcame Donati's former club, AC Milan, at Parkhead earlier in the campaign but he predicted a far tougher challenge from Barcelona.

"It's not a fantastic time for Barcelona at the moment but I think they are the best team in Europe just now," Donati added.

"They may have some injuries but the most important thing for us is to play well and concentrate on the game."

Meanwhile, Donati played down an incident between goalkeeper Artur Boruc and skipper Stephen McManus after both players clashed early in the second half against Hearts.

He said: "Sometimes these things happen during the game and that's normal.

"But, when the game is finished, there is no problem between Artur and Mick. It's because the players want us to well and to win the game. It's okay."

A run of poor form saw Hearts slump as low as second bottom in the SPL earlier this season but results have shown a marked improvement since Stephen Frail was promoted to the role of caretaker manager and given full responsibility for team selection.

The trip to Celtic Park halted a run of three consecutive league wins and the Jambos boss is determined to ensure morale does not dip after the 3-0 defeat.

He said: "I'll make sure the heads don't go down because we have a lot of big games coming up.

"If we continue to show the improvement and commitment we have done in recent weeks, then hopefully we can push into the top six and take it from there."