Mulraney can’t make room for sentiment
JAKE MULRANEY was born in Dublin, but he was made in Inverness.
However, the Hearts man won’t let sentiment cloud his emotions today.
Mulraney joined Caley Thistle from Queens Park Rangers in 2016, seeking first-team football after failing to make the grade at Loftus Road and enduring a couple of unsatisfactory loans with Dagenham & Redbridge and Stevenage.
The 22-year-old played 64 times for the Highlanders, illustrating his undoubted — if inconsistent — potential and helping the club win the Irn-Bru Cup last season, his first taste of silverware in the senior ranks.
However, he credits his stint up north with turning him into a man, as he adapted to an unfamiliar city, new friends and the rough and tumble of playing every week in Scotland.
Mulraney knows he would not be at Hearts without the progress he made in Inverness.
‘All I ever wanted was first-team football and to be a senior environment, playing games and progressing in men’s football,’ recalled Mulraney. ‘I jumped at the chance to come to Scotland for that.
‘I’ll always be grateful to Inverness for giving me that chance. I was a little bit in-and-out during my first season and thankfully kicked on in my second season.
‘I’ve been away from home for a while, which takes its toll, and you need to become independent and do things for yourself from an early age. I definitely grew up while I was at Inverness. I wouldn’t be here if not for my time there. Simple as that.’
A win today will see Hearts top Group C despite the furore of being docked two points for fielding the ineligible Andy Irving against Cove Rangers and a meek 1-1 draw against Raith Rovers.
‘All we need to do is win and we go through which, when you consider some of the uncertainty that was about last week, is a position we would have taken,’ added the Irishman.
‘My only focus is on making sure we go through, I can’t afford to think about what that would mean for Inverness. There’s no room for error and we need the right result.’