LAFFERTY BACKED TO MOVE ON FROM ‘SLOPPY’ SPOT-KICK
KYLE LAFFERTY has had better evenings. Left crestfallen by a last-gasp penalty miss that denied Hearts a vital three points, the striker wasn’t soothed by his manager’s assessment. To Craig Levein, Lafferty’s ‘sloppy’ effort — saved by Jamie MacDonald — summed up a performance that was ‘far from his best’. The Northern Ireland striker’s failure to convert a chance to put daylight between his fifthplaced side and Kilmarnock, who are only two points behind with two games in hand, was preying on Levein’s mind. Time will tell how costly that proves to be. Team-mate Don Cowie is, however, fully confident that the Northern Ireland international will bounce back with confidence come Sunday’s Scottish Cup quarter-final against Motherwell. Indeed, should Hearts have a spot-kick at Fir Park with a lastfour place on the line, Cowie expects Lafferty to be at the head of the queue to hit it. ‘Kyle will need lifted a wee bit,’ admitted Cowie. ‘He’s a goalscorer and, when you get the chance so late in the game, there’s no real time to rectify it when you miss. ‘That was disappointing for him. But it happens. His head was down in the dressing room, but we’ll pick him up and if we get a penalty against Motherwell I’m sure he’ll be the first one wanting to take it.’ Cowie didn’t try to downplay the significance of Hearts’ next assignment. Defeating Motherwell to earn a Hampden semi-final place would be the perfect way to restore a positive glow after two draws and a defeat from their last three games. ‘Hearts need to be getting to the latter stages of cup competitions and we have not managed that in my time here,’ said Cowie. ‘This is my first quarter-final here and I’ll not be hiding what a massive game it is. Motherwell have improved since the transfer window and have reenergised their squad. It will be a hard game but one we believe we can come through. ‘Had we beaten Kilmarnock, it would have been a great three points against a team on a good run of form. ‘Kilmarnock are a bit like ourselves, having gone through that change of manager and are hard to beat. But we’ve drawn too many games and we want to turn those draws into wins.’