Craig Halkett says Hearts are heading to Ibrox this weekend with the same mindset as every other match they’ve played in this season with the same target of three points.
The Jambos head west this Sunday for a top of the table clash and while the magnitude of the fixture cannot be downplayed, the defender admits the group are only focused on themselves and ensuring they return to the capital with a positive result.
Speaking to the media at the pre-match press conference, Halkett said:
“I think from our point of view, it would obviously be massive [to win the match]. “It's a team that you're directly competing with at the moment, so it would be a huge win for us. From a Rangers point of view, they might feel like it's a bigger game than what we might feel it is, but we've had the same mindset every game that we've played this season.
“It doesn't matter if we're playing second in the league or 11th or 12th in the league, whatever it is, we just go to try and win the game. Whatever the outcome is of that game, we move on to the next one and try and do the same again.”
Halkett kicked every ball in Tuesday’s Edinburgh Derby from the Directors Box, serving his one-game suspension and while he had a good view of Tomas Magnusson’s winning goal, he’s looking forward to being a little closer to the action this Sunday.
“Absolutely buzzing. I don't think it was the best game of football I’ve watched as a spectator, but from a player's point of view it was all just about the result. Big Tom got the goal, and it was just pure joy.
“I was obviously up in the directors’ box, because suspended players aren’t allowed near the changing room or the tunnel. I had a good view of it, and I was just absolutely delighted, it was a huge three points.”
Asked if this was the most enjoyable campaign of his career, Halkett replied, “by far, yes.”
“Obviously, we’ve not been in this position where you're sitting at the top of the league so far into the season. I've been at Hearts before and we've got off to a great start, but to be in the position we're in now is unbelievable. Everyone's played such a huge part, and it's been such a great season.
It's just one of those ones where you're just so glad to be involved in it.”
On Sunday’s opponents, Halkett added: “It'll be a tough game. I think any game in this league when you go away from home is always tough.
“You've seen they've went and brought reinforcements in, they've brought some real quality into their squad, and I think you've seen that they've started to make an impact. So, maybe that's a wee bit of a different challenge that we've not faced.
“Obviously, we've played them twice before, but we've got some new players in, so that'll be a thing that we'll look over and do our homework.
“It'll be similar to what I think it was when we went there before. We'll be concentrating on ourselves, doing our game plan and hopefully coming away with three points.”
You can watch Craig's press conference in full on Hearts TV.
