Hearts B head coach Liam Fox admits he is expecting a tough challenge as East Stirlingshire visit Ainslie Park.
Two of the form teams in the Lowland League will go head-to-head on Friday night. It’s six wins on the trot for Fox’s side, meanwhile Shire arrive in the capital having won seven of their last nine, including their last four games on the road.
“It’s definitely a game that we’re all looking forward to,” Fox told the Official Hearts Website.
“We are coming into it off the back of some consistent results and some consistent performances. I was a wee bit disappointed immediately after the Gretna game.
“I just didn’t think that we quite hit the levels that day that we have shown in previous months, but that is a good sign, it shows that we are improving and that we have set high standards.
“Finding consistency in your game is very important for young players as often when they find it, their performance level goes up. Every opportunity they get to perform on the pitch is an opportunity for them to impress the manager and catch the eyes of the first team staff.
“I am never going to apologise for being demanding and pushing the boys on. We had a free week last week, so we have had plenty of time to get back on the training pitch and prepare for the game.
“East Stirlingshire have been on a really good run of form, so it has the makings of a good game. Like we always do, we give respect to our opposition and do our work on them, but my main concern is what we do.
“It’s about making sure we prepare properly and hopefully we go out and put on a good performance. If we do that, then that gives us the best chance of picking up three points.
“In every game we play, we have to earn the right to win. That is something we speak about quite a lot. It’s about us gaining control in the game, whether that be by matching teams’ physical aggression, or making second balls.
“The game hasn’t changed that much, that will always be the case, that you have to earn the right to play the way you want to play. We want to pass the ball and get in a rhythm, but before we can do that, we have to compete and if we don’t do that, then it will be a difficult night.
“So that first thing for us is always about gaining control of the game, that then allows us to use the qualities that we have in our team and cause them problems with our movement, our rotations and our forward runs, that then allows us to create chances that we can hopefully take.”
Tickets for Friday’s match are available on the gate and are priced at £5 for adults, £2 for concessions and U12s go free. Turnstiles will be open from 7pm and it’s a 7:45pm kick-off.
