Bounce back or it will get worse

BY FRASER WILSON OLIVER BOZANIC admits Hearts are at their lowest ebb.

But he has warned his teammates they must pull together to make sure it doesn’t get even worse.

The Aussie midfielder was swamped in midfield as Rangers ran over the top of Jambos in a one-sided Betfred Cup semi-final.

Bozanic said: “There is going to be disappointment in the changing room.

“This hasn’t been a good run, we’ve lost the manager and it’s been difficult.

“It’s important we keep a very close changing room. It’s the only way we can move forward.

“If everyone goes their separate ways it can go downhill.

“I believe we do have the right players in the team to build and go upwards.

“I hope we’re on the way up. That’s the way I have to look at it.

“I have to see that it is around the corner.

“I’ll be doing everything possible to ensure we have a good performance and try to win this week. We went into the game with some tactics we had worked on. Unfortunately, we had two substitutions which had to be made.

“One was an injury. That made it very difficult to continue with that style and we had to change a bit. It was a difficult day but we have to regroup now and look forward to the next game.

“Rangers are a very good team who are in a good place. We need to be a good team in a good place.

“We really need to stay positive and focus on each player individually. We need to focus on what we need to do to get back to winning ways.”

Bozanic refused to speculate on Craig Levein’s replacement as manager and said: “It’s up to the club. I’m just focused on each game. The most important thing for us as a club is to bounce back, have a really positive performance and win the game this weekend.

“Everything else goes out the window. It’s about having a really positive week.”