[To match this sequence on Saturday, Hearts now require to prove themselves at home to Rangers, who are eight points adrift of them. The encounter offers the Tynecastle men an opportunity to prove beyond all doubt that they are the team the Old Firm have to beat, as opposed to the other way around. Eminently achievable, the manner in which they got the job done against Inverness without producing football to purr over made the win reminiscent of the sort the Glasgow clubs have become past masters at knocking out on their way to title successes.] If we had lost there would have been pressure on us to get a result next week, ... But now the pressure is on Rangers. |
After our team meeting we decided unanimously to seek a meeting with Mr Romanov to try to resolve the situation. |
At times in the game we played with great confidence. In the last three games under Walter the commitment and the organisation and defensive aspects have improved greatly but the one thing which maybe hasn't been too great has been our retention of the ball. I felt that was much better against Austria. |
Craig has had an outstanding run in the side and it's disappointing he can't make it, |
For me, the most important thing is actually maintaining our form and winning against the teams outside the Old Firm. Yes, beating Rangers would be a huge psychological boost for us, but, in the long term, over the entire season, the really important thing is to sustain the success against the others. |
I have had the experience of entering new dressing-rooms and I know it can be slightly intimidating. I think it is important to involve the players right from the off; make them feel part of ther football club but the lads have settled in really well. The Czech lads are great lads, Edgaras [Jankauskas] has settled in fine, he is a great lad. There is a good feeling among the dressing room but there always is. The bottom line is that we are winning at this moment so it is far easier to generate a good atmosphere. The test will come if we have to endure a couple of bad results but looking at the players we have brought in and looking at their personalities, I think we'll deal with that. That will be the real test. |
If we had lost there would have been pressure on us to get a result next week. But now the pressure is on Rangers. |
It has been a very difficult day for the players. |
It's causing me a little bit of discomfort at the moment. But I think it's just a dead leg so, hopefully, with treatment over the next two or three days, I should be fine for next Saturday. |
It's rather surprising, because we have had a lot of good performances, |
It's the first time in six or seven years that there's been this sense of optimism and that's been reflected in the season ticket sales. |
Our defence has a lot of confidence about it at the moment and I thought we defended very well again at Livingston, only giving them the one chance which they unfortunately scored from, |
That is an aspect that players looking in from the outside at the Old Firm don't realise is difficult to live with. If we continue to get results these expectancy levels will continue to grow. That will be new to a lot of us and something we will have to learn to handle. |
The fans turned out in their numbers at Livingston on Wednesday night and that was fantastic to see. It's just a pity we couldn't give them a win. But we will have another full house at Tynecastle tomorrow cheering us on and hopefully we'll get the result we're looking for this time. |
The goals were for our bus driver, Alan Scott, who lost his father on Saturday night, |