Everyone just needs to get off Craig’s back. We are going to achieve great things here

AFTER an afternoon spent bulldozing his way through the Inverness defence, Uche Ikpeazu adopted a similar approach to the critics of manager Craig Levein.

The Hearts forward scored the opening goal in the Scottish Cup semi-final four minutes after a half-time interval that began with a chorus of booing from an element of a restless support.

Frustrated after last week’s derby defeat to Hibernian and generally unfulfilled by a campaign beset by injury and underachievement, the stage seemed set for mutiny against a manager who’d been loudly berated on home turf a week earlier.

Ikpeazu wasn’t having any of it and, fortunately for Levein, was in a position to do something about it.

When a short corner resulted in Jake Mulraney’s low cross ricocheting into his path, he forced the ball home and embarked on an extended celebration that took him into the arms of his boss (below).

‘I say to everyone, just get off his back, you know? He’s a good manager and a good person. Back him. We are going to achieve great things, not only this season but in seasons to come.

‘I know people are passionate but they need to get behind him. He’s an amazing manager and an amazing person so stick by him.’

Just as Levein had cause to be grateful for the striker’s finish, so Ikpeazu gives thanks to the former Scotland boss for elevating his

career to a point where he is now preparing for a cup final that will be played in front of a capacity crowd next month.

A year ago, the 24-year-old was turning out for Cambridge United in the fourth tier of English football and admits he moved north in search of a more rewarding experience.

Sidelined by a foot injury that saw him miss the League Cup semi-final against Celtic at Murrayfield in October, he was keen to make the most of the big occasion.

‘This is one of the reasons I came here,’ he said. ‘It’s a massive club but these kind of finals don’t come around very often. ‘I remember watching the semifinal we lost to Celtic on TV with my foot in a cast.

‘I know how much that hurt me, but everything happens for a reason and I wasn’t letting another semifinal slip by me. No chance.

‘I am a man of great faith and I always believed good things would happen, even if it was tough at the time, especially when I was told I was going to be out for the rest of the season.

‘But all the work I put in in the gym, all the extras I do, hard work pays off in the end. I deserve it.’ Ikpeazu’s injury was just one of a number to affect Hearts’ key core of players. Captain Christophe Berra, Steven Naismith and John Souttar — a fellow goalscorer yesterday — have all missed chunks of the campaign and the striker believes that has had an unavoidable impact on the team’s form, its league position and the perception of the manager. ‘When we lose so many players through injury it’s hard,’ he reasoned. ‘And it’s not the manager’s fault. ‘Look at Steven Naismith, he has been amazing for us. To not have him for this semi-final and still get through, that’s an achievement in itself. ‘I’ll hold my hands up. When I first came back I wasn’t great. But in the last five or six games I’ve got back to my best and I think I am a big part of this team when I play well and I am on it.

‘It was special to score, it’s amazing scoring a goal at any level for any team. But scoring in a semi-final is something you can’t replicate, it’s an amazing feeling.’

Ikpeazu might well have left Hampden with two goals but a penalty miss in the quarter-final replay win over Partick Thistle meant he was forced to defer to substitute Sean Clare after being felled by Caley Thistle goalkeeper Mark Ridgers with the score at 2-0.

‘I missed the last one, so I had to leave the duties with Sean. It’s a team game,’ he acknowledged. ‘If the gaffer puts me back on them I’ll take them but I’m not, Sean is. I have to respect that.’

A niggling knee problem had called Ikpeazu’s involvement yesterday into question. He insists he had no intention of calling off but concedes he may need to be careful between now and May 25.

‘I had been struggling with my knee all week,’ he conceded. ‘I didn’t train until Thursday and I did a little bit on Friday but I wasn’t missing this game!

‘I may need to manage it a bit between now and the end of the season but I’ll find a way, I’ll be okay. I have missed four months of football this season already, so I’m not going to miss any more games. And it doesn’t hurt when you win games like that.’

Currently placed sixth going into the Premiership split, Hearts can now tackle their remaining five league matches in a relaxed and positive manner.

‘Do you know what? I think this game should give us confidence,’ added Ikpeazu. ‘If getting to a final is not a confidence booster, I don’t know what is.

‘Let’s try and end the season strongly, not just in the cup but in the league because anything can happen.

‘We have the split now, we are going to enjoy this moment and we’ll see what happens.’

I was told I was out for the season but my hard work paid off in the end