Halkett happy for Hearts to have early wake- up call in cup
THE old adage, “one learns more from defeat than victory” was made a mockery of in Methil.
Hearts won the Betfred Cup clash courtesy of Craig Halkett’s second- half header, but the manner of the unconvincing win has given manager Robbie Neilson and his players much to ponder ahead of Friday’s opening Championship clash at home to Dundee.
That Hearts dominated possession against a team happy to cede territorial advantage was no great surprise. However, it was what they did on the ball that raised concerns among Neilson and the fans who shelled out £ 9.99 to watch live online.
The game was played at a pace that caused the Blue Brazil rearguard few problems. Even when the Gorgie side were given a sight of goal, they were wasteful, Josh Ginnelly and Jamie Walker guilty of missing chances.
However, goal- scorer Halkett, who headed in Elliott Frear’s corner in the 78th minute, insists such a match was ideal preparation, claiming that the contest will doubtless be a template for what Hearts will come up against in the second tier.
“Teams are going to sit in, so I think it’s good to have a game like this to give a few boys a wake- up call that it’s not going to be pretty football every week,” said the defender. “We are not going to be able to pass it about and score three, four, five goals. We are going to have to work for it and sometimes we are going to win 1- 0 or it’s going to be 1- 1 and we will have to wait for a last- minute winner.
“So it was good that we’ve had that reminder early and we can talk about it.
“We got there in the end but that’s all you can say, really. I don’t think we were too happy in the end. We got the win and that’s the most important thing. But I think in terms of our performance we all know we need to be that bit better.
“The gaffer said to us afterwards that’s what games in the league are going to be like for us this season.”
Not only will Hearts have to confront teams who are happy to sit deep, the opposition will also be motivated by the prospect of causing an upset against the title favourites.
Former Livingston captain Halkett admits that adds to the challenge Hearts face when the league gets underway.
“We are the team that everyone wants to beat,” he said. “We are the team that everyone expects to win the league. Teams are going to sit in and make it hard for us and make us work for the win. They know the longer the game goes on the edgier it gets and they have a chance of nicking it. But we have to stay concentrated for 90 minutes.”
Despite their struggles in breaking down Cowdenbeath, Halkett is, nonetheless, enthused by the direction the team is heading in under Neilson.
He added: “The manager has put a really strong squad together. The cup games are good to get us going but we are all focusing on the league. The league is the big job this year. We know what we have to do and we know what we want to do. All the boys are buzzing for the league to start.”