Hearts aiming for best points haul since 2006
Should Hearts leave Rugby Park with three points today, they will face four relatively meaningless league matches before the 2023/24 Premiership season ends. The Edinburgh club will have secured third place and guaranteed European league-stage football and will then have four games in which they could take it easy, writes Barry Anderson.
Chances of them doing so are slim. Coaching staff have already identified different ways of maintaining motivation should they find themselves confirmed in third spot with four games remaining. One is a specific points total. Hearts currently have 62 points in the Premiership table, 11 more than fourth-placed Kilmarnock who they meet at Rugby Park on Saturday. Eight more from the 15 still available would see them reach one of head coach Steven Naismith’s aims.
Not since 2006 have the Tynecastle side reached the 70-point mark in Scotland’s top flight. They finished on 74 that season as an exhilarating and dramatic campaign saw them secure second place and a spot in the Champions League qualifying rounds under Lithuanian head coach Valdas Ivanuaskas.
“As it stands just now, it’s not done,” stressed winger Alan Forrest. “We can’t say the season is done because we need to focus on this game. Even if we get a result, we aren’t the type to take our foot off the gas. The manager has given us an aim to hit that 70-point mark so, even if the games didn’t mean anything, you are still playing for Hearts and want to win every game.
“It’s important we bounce back from last week [losing to Rangers in the Scottish Cup semi-finals]. This is a great game for us. It’s in our hands. We know Kilmarnock have been there or thereabouts all season so it won’t be an easy game.”
Forrest has enjoyed his most productive campaign so far with Hearts. He has 38 appearances to date, three goals and a handful of assists. In a competitive squad where up to eight team-mates can play in his position, he has certainly enjoyed a successful year.
“This season has got to be up there as one of my best,” said the player. “I’d like to have done better in the cups. We got to two semi-finals but I think it shows how far we have come that we are feeling disappointment after the Rangers game.”