Craig: I’m Wighting for my future
But Robbie believes in me and that’s key
CRAIG WIGHTON admits he’s in the last chance saloon at Hearts.
But he’s determined to prove the doubters wrong and says boss Robbie Neilson can help him do that.
The former Dundee man has struggled to make an impact since moving from Dens in 2018.
That led to stick from fans who expected far more from a player the club shelled out a reported £180,000 for.
But he’s in a better place to impress now there’s a manager in place who rates him and knows exactly where he wants to play him, after trying to sign him for the club during his first spell in charge.
Striker Wighton, gearing up for the Betfred Cup opener against Jambos’ Championship rivals Caley Thistle, said: “It’s been a tough couple of years, everyone knows that.
“The manager came in and said to me straight away that it’s down to me.
“I’ve worked hard over lockdown and he has shown a lot of faith in me so far, so I’ll be looking to repay that.
“It always helps to have a manager who believes in you. Robbie has told me where he sees me playing and what he wants me to work on. To have that, and for him to communicate, makes things a lot easier.
“I’ve had a lot of criticism since I’ve been here but that’s always going to happen if you join a club for money and you don’t perform. It’s not something I try to look into.
“Sometimes it’s hard but the fans pay their money and they can say what they want.
“I’m just looking to try to prove people wrong. This is my last year here so I’m fighting for my future.”
A loan spell to Arbroath earlier this year looked to have done Wighton the world of good before it was cut short due to Covid-19.
He even netted the winner against Neilson’s Dundee United side at Tannadice.
He added: “If the previous manager was still here I probably would have had to look elsewhere.
“It’s these wee breaks in football you get. I wanted to go on loan last year, play games and get back enjoying football. I did that, Arbroath was brilliant, a great club and that helped me.
“I went there and I scored in the first couple of games and that always helps straight away.
“I was gutted when the season got cut short because I was just starting to hit form.”
Boss Neilson hopes victory tonight could spark a run towards winning the trophy.He said: “The league’s the priority for us but we want to progress through the group stages and go as far as we can.
“We’d like to think we can get to the latter stages and possibly even win it.”
Caley keeper Mark Ridgers hopes playing at an empty Tynecastle can help them.
He said: “Against teams like Hearts, the absence of fans could definitely be a leveller.
They’re backed by 14-15,000 fans every week, so this year when nobody would be stupid enough to write them off for the Championship with the squad they have, it could really level things up.
“When I was at Hearts I played in a few reserve games and cup games where there weren’t many people there. It feels like that now.
“Tynecastle is one that when the fans are in there, the atmosphere is incredible, it makes a huge difference.
“Hopefully if there is an advantage to be had then it benefits us.”