Hearts Women manager Eva Olid is hoping her players can go into Sunday’s crucial SWPL match against Partick Thistle a little more relaxed having overcome the same opponents in a Scottish Cup quarter-final earlier in the month.
With a spot at Hampden up for grabs that afternoon, it wasn’t Hearts’ most fluent performance, but a late header from Lizzie Waldie ensured they booked their spot at the national stadium.
It’s three very big points in the battle for fourth spot this weekend, but Olid is hopeful that the return to league business will see her side relax and play with confidence.
Speaking to the Official Hearts Website, the boss said:
“The good thing is we obviously played them three weeks ago, which means we can analyse the things that we did wrong and can then go about improving those things for Sunday.
“It is a different scenario this weekend. In the cup game recently, it was everything or nothing. Now it’s a league a game, so the players can be a bit more relaxed and more confident.
“The players have been working hard this week to get better at the things we need to get better at, so we go into this game with confidence, and we have a good opportunity to get three points."
The Jambos have a good record against Thistle this season, but with the Maryhill side coming into the match off the back of a defeat in the Sky Sports Cup Final, Olid is expecting the home side to be determined to bounce back.
“It can work either way," Olid continued. After the final, they could be a bit down both mentally and physically, or with the cup done, they have their full focus on the league, looking to bounce back and they come at us 100%."
It's a three-way battle for fourth spot between the Jambos, Hibernian and Partick Thistle and the women in maroon are set to welcome back three players from injury, with Kathleen McGovern, Katie Lockwood and Monica Forsyth all back in contention to start at Petershill.
“They are such important players for us, and I am so happy to have them available for Sunday.
“We know we have two direct opponents for fourth place in Partick Thistle and Hibernian. It makes it pretty clear that if we win those matches, then we have a very good chance of achieving our main objectives.
“If we start dropping points in these games, then it means we will probably have to get points in a match we maybe don’t expect to get points from. If we do our job in those games, we can enjoy the difficult games more.”
You can watch the game live on BBC Alba on Sunday. Kick-off is 12:10
