Skipper Lawrence Shankland admits Hearts have shown good character to come from behind in some early season showdowns but acknowledges it’s only a start and is keen to keep the momentum going.
The Jambos mark their return to action with a trip to Ibrox and despite a lot of change in personnel over the summer, Shankland believes the camaraderie in the new group is strong.
Speaking to the media at the pre-match press conference, he said:
“It’s been a good start. Obviously, there have been some tough moments in there within games. We've had to claw ourselves back into games and go on and win them that way. We’ve made it a wee bit more difficult for ourselves, but all in all, we've been winning games and picking up points, and that's the most important thing.
“Hopefully, going forward, we can make it a wee bit easier for ourselves in games, but we've shown good character at times and we're winning, so that's the most important thing.
“When everything's new, it does take a wee bit of time for everything to gel and come together. There's a lot of new players in the building, and it's getting used to playing with them and getting used to what they want on a football pitch, so it does take time, but I think we've done pretty well so far.
“It's obviously early days and we need to keep building on that, but the training's been good, everybody's been enjoying it, which is the most important thing, and there's a good feeling about the boys, so it's been good.”
On the challenge of facing Rangers and how Hearts will approach the game, he added:
“I think we just need to approach it the same way we've approached all the games we've played this season.
“First and foremost, we want to go there and win, and that's what we'll try to do on the day, but obviously you'll go with your game plan, try and make things happen the way we want them to go in the game, and go and enjoy it. Enjoy that bit of pressure on you, that people are expecting you to go there and get a result.
“You need to enjoy that and thrive from that, and I think where we are, positivity-wise and the way we've started the season, we can go there and enjoy it. That's the most important thing and as I said, we want to go there and win the game.
“That [a win] would obviously breed confidence, it's going to be some of the boys' first experience, maybe biggest experience in a big stadium in front of big crowds as well, so that will all play its part, and it's up to us as experienced boys in the changing room that have been there to get around them and support them, whether that be before the match or on the pitch as well.
“You know when you go through to Glasgow you always need to be on your game to get a result there, but I believe we're capable, the confidence we're playing with at the minute, the belief we've got, we're in a good position to go into any game and be happy going anywhere at the weekend, so we can look forward to it.”
You can watch Lawrence’s press conference in full on Hearts TV.
