« WASHINGTON’S VOW TO STRICKEN SOUTTAR:
FOR the victorious Hearts players, a touch of devastation was mixed in with their elation. Daniel Stendel’s rock-bottom Premiership side had just delivered a deserved Scottish Cup knockout blow to Rangers.
It was only a second win against top-flight opponents for the under-fire German in his brief but troubled tenure, with both victories coming at home against Steven Gerrard’s Ibrox side.
Yet, for all the exhilaration and exuberance among those wearing maroon jerseys at full-time, there was also a sombre sense of anguish at the serious injury suffered by John Souttar.
A snapped Achilles tendon means the 23-year-old will miss the rest of the season — including Scotland’s Euro 2020 play-off with Israel at Hampden later this month.
Now his Tynecastle team-mates want to secure a double dose of comfort to the central defender in the form of league survival and a place in the Scottish Cup final.
‘It was a bittersweet night for us,’ admitted Hearts striker Conor Washington after Oliver Bozanic’s winner ground Rangers’ flickering ambitions of lifting domestic silverware this season to dust.
‘As players, we dedicate this win over Rangers to John Souttar.
‘We don’t need any additional motivation for the rest of the season but it would be nice to get him a trip to Hampden for a final and make sure he is still a Premiership player next season, 100 per cent.
‘It is a terrible blow for us, it really is. I knew how great a player John Souttar was even before I signed for Hearts.
‘Then he came back from a long time out recently and he played five or six games and he was magnificent in every match. Now he has another bout of rehab and we wish him all the best.
‘He will be in the training ground every day doing his rehab and it’s our job to try and keep his spirits up as he tries to get back as soon as possible.’
One bright spot for Hearts after Souttar’s removal during Saturday’s quarter-final was the performance of his replacement, Clevid Dikamona.
Washington hopes the Frenchborn Congo international can now form a solid partnership with Craig Halkett.
‘Clevid did brilliantly,’ said the Northern Ireland striker. ‘He’s been brilliant in training and, every time he’s got a chance in the team, he has been brilliant as well.
‘It’s hard to dislodge a partnership of Craig Halkett and John Souttar but Clevid now has his chance to make his mark on the team. I thought he was magnificent against Rangers.’
On the side of a mountain in Portugal last Wednesday night, Rangers scaled new heights under Gerrard to beat Braga and reach the Europa League last 16.
But the Ibrox side yet again toiled against bottom-six Premiership opponents and this was the worst display of the former Liverpool and England captain’s near two-year managerial career.
Washington believes the Rangers boss played into Hearts’ hands by asking his side to build from the back on a poor pitch amid rain and high winds.
‘I think the way Rangers play suits us,’ he said. ‘We wanted to make it a scrap and get up the pitch and play in their half.
‘Rangers had a tough week being away in Europe on Wednesday night and we wanted to use the first five or ten minutes to turn them and get them facing their own goal. Let them know that they were in a game. We managed to do that and it set the tone.
‘A lot of the teams that come here, it’s hard to press them because they want to turn you round (with long balls) and it becomes the opposite sort of game.
‘But Rangers were trying to play the ball out from the back and we caused them problems by pressing them.
‘Was it a surprise that they tried to play out in the conditions? Yes, the lads spoke about it before the game.
‘The conditions were really tough. The wind was swirling and the pitch did not have a lot of grass on it. It was so fiery, the ball was just zipping off the surface.
‘It was tough to play out from the back, so the manager and coaching staff decided we were going to play a certain way — and it worked.
‘We’ve caused ourselves a lot of problems playing out from the back here this season. The manager wanted to be a bit more pragmatic.
‘It was a grind. It might not be the prettiest style of football on a night like that but it did the job. I don’t think Rangers created too many chances.’
Since beating Rangers 2-1 in the league on January 26, Hearts have picked up just two Premiership points out of 12. Tomorrow night,
Stendel’s side face an Edinburgh derby against in-form Hibs at Easter Road, before hosting Motherwell on Saturday. Two points adrift of 11th-placed Hamilton — and six behind the outright safety of tenth — Washington knows this latest humbling of the Ibrox side can’t be another false dawn with only 11 league matches left. ‘This has to be the turning point,’ he said. ‘It’s so frustrating when we come off the pitch against the teams we keep losing to and you think: “How do you go from beating Rangers at home to doing that”? ‘But there’s no other way about it — this has to be the turning point for us. ‘We have two big games coming up against Hibs and Motherwell and both of those teams will try and play a little bit more than the rest of the teams in the league. Hopefully, we can take this into the next few weeks because we need to get points on the board.’
“We dedicate this victory to John. He’s been magnificent”