Derek McInnes is well aware of the threats Falkirk can pose the Jambos this Saturday and explained it’s important the men in maroon maximise their energy output to combat the Bairns’ pace.
The Scottish Cup takes centre stage on Saturday night and despite Hearts coming out on top in the two league meetings this season, McInnes admits Falkirk are dangerous opponents to face so early in the competition.
“Obviously, Falkirk have had a lot of praise this season and rightly so," McInnes told Hearts TV.
“I think they're a very good side. They play with a lot of energy; they've got a lot of speed in their team and it's important that we try and maximise our energy output.
“I think our performances against them have been really strong. I think the first one here was totally different to the second one. The onus was on us at home to really open up the game and take them on and I thought we were very good in that sense.
“We got a strong result against them and then away from home, in the terrible conditions you never know. Magic, we've got two good results against them previously, but they're a team who can really hurt you if they get on top of you and we've got to make sure we're ready for it. I believe they were unlucky against Celtic not to get something from the game and that doesn't surprise me to be honest.”
Cammy Devlin and Michael Steinwender are suspended for the tie and with it being Hearts' third game in six games, McInnes admits he could potentially rotate his squad to freshen things up.
“Every game we just look at it in isolation. We want to win the game first and foremost so it's not as if it's after a Lord Mayor's show after Wednesday. In the cold light of day when we wake up tomorrow morning, we prepare for a cup tie but these three games in six days were meant to test us and challenge us. We've been tested a wee bit more with getting down to ten men in the last couple of games and picking up an extra couple of injuries.
“We'll see how we're fixed come tomorrow and then we'll start to plan for the game. We're enjoying our league form, but we want to be a good cup team as well and hopefully we can be good enough to get a result.”
