Cathro: My players hit back at snipers

HEARTS head coach Ian Cathro reckons his players answered their critics after collecting a first win in six matches in Saturday’s convincing 4-0 victory over Hamilton.

A timid Scottish Cup loss to city rivals Hibs and Premiership setbacks at the hands of Partick Thistle and Ross County left Cathro having to defend his nine January imports against accusations that they lack fight for the Scottish game.

Forthcoming matches against second and first, Aberdeen and Celtic, in the Premiership will be the real litmus test for the new-look Hearts team but Cathro reckons the weekend’s emphatic victory silenced some of their detractors.

He said: “Anybody at the game on Saturday would understand that we can play football and that also we can fight.

“A scoreline like this has been a long time coming, you look back to the last two home games we’ve had (against Inverness and County, and there were maybe key moments in the game that swung it against us.

“We pushed a little bit harder on Saturday, for sure every single player went to their maximum.”

Cathro admits his side can now look forward with optimism ahead of back-to-back matches against the Dons and Celtic – teams they have failed to beat this term.

He added: “The next two games are against opponents at the top of the league, where we have to be fighting and competing, show our strength, show our quality.”