H
ello and greetings from Tynecastle Park.
A week has passed since we kicked off our Betfred Cup campaign here in Gorgie, against Inverness Caledonian Thistle. It was important to start with a win and I was pleased to get three points on the board straight away. It’s always hard to gauge how opening games are going to pan out. You have factors such as fitness, game sharpness and new players in unfamiliar surroundings to take into account. I’m happy with the way we equipped ourselves in terms of chances created and on another night more of our 21 shots at goal would’ve seen us through with a more comfortable scoreline. At the other end of the park we had Craig Gordon to thank for a stunning save that kept the scores level. To be honest, I’m that used to Craig making those types of saves that when the opposition attack, I expect a save to be made. There is flexibility across the backline to switch formation during a game and the defence will continue to improve as we get into our stride. Saturday’s win over Cowdenbeath was a reminder that we are going to have to learn how to break teams down. Hearts coming to town or a visit to Tynecastle is a big occasion and, as such, we’ll be seen as a scalp. Sides will sit in against us which means we must work our way through them, and I’d like us to do it quicker than we did at Bayview. Tonight we welcome John McGlynn and Raith Rovers to Tynecastle. I’ve known John for years and he’s a guy that cares passionately about his role. I expect Raith to come here with a gameplan and try to make life difficult for us, so the onus is on us to focus on our game and play to the best of our abilities. Playing at an empty Tynecastle will remain a strange feeling for some time. We pumped crowd noise in during the Inverness game, and while it was good to have some form of noise in the background, it doesn’t compare to when our fans are here and backing the team from start to finish. We’ll do our best to keep the positive results coming and advance in this competition so that hopefully, when it is safe to do so, the fans can come and cheer us on to another cup run. Robbie Neilson
4 WWW.HEARTSFC.CO.UK
