Following Monday’s dramatic victory over Rangers at Tynecastle Park, head coach Derek McInnes confirmed attention quickly turned to Saturday night’s trip to Fir Park.
It was a special night in Gorgie as strikes from Stephen Kingsley and Lawrence Shankland ensured the men in maroon remained three points clear at the summit of the Scottish Premiership, but McInnes explained the focus almost immediately shifted to the next match.
It’s a trip to Lanarkshire for a Saturday night showdown in front of the Sky Sports cameras as the manager heaped praise on the Hearts fanbase, who have once again, sold out their away allocation.
Speaking to the media at the pre-match press conference, McInnes said:
“You enjoy the moment of winning. I think you've got to take the good from it. The most important part is just getting the result. I thought the second half performance was really strong.
“We get the three points, but it's momentary. You get the feel-good factor in the dressing room and on the pitch after the game. But as soon as you have your shower after the game, it's just about Motherwell and that's the way it is.
“Every game becomes vitally important and the focus this week has been on that game now. We take the good from the Rangers game, and I think we remind the players about what we did well and what we didn't do so well.
“The supporters responded brilliantly to what was asked of them. There was still one or two without maroon on, right enough, but we'll let them away with that! I think the supporters, speaking to a few people who went to the game, they arrived way before the game.
“Everybody just wanted to try and play their part, and I thought they did that brilliantly. And obviously we've got a big support going at the weekend again. We look forward to our home games, and we've got to look forward to this one as well on Saturday.”
Motherwell have received plenty of plaudits this season, but it was the Jambos who were victorious the last time the sides met, coming from behind to win 3-1 at Tynecastle and McInnes is expecting another tough encounter this weekend.
“I thought Motherwell were really good for 15-20 minutes in that game, really strong, and they carved us open a few times,” said McInnes.
“They're a team who constantly test your organisation throughout the game.
“They can make little subtle tweaks and little different ways of playing that can maybe test your organisation. They will look a lot at how we press the game normally and they will try and counter that. I’m not the only opposition manager to sit down before you play Motherwell and say how well they've done.
“They're a good team, well-coached, they're a confident team. They look like a team who enjoy playing and what they're being asked to do. So that goes without saying, but I think they've also got very good players.
“I sometimes think that gets left behind. It's all about how well-coached they are and how they play and the style, but they've actually got really good individual players as well.
“So, for all that they haven't beaten us this season. I know you're saying they've been problematic, and they have, but they've been problematic for most teams. But we have to be honest, in all three games, they could have beaten us in all three of them, but we've managed to do our job well enough, for long enough in all the games, to pick up points against them. This game, as I say, will be tough again, for loads of reasons.
They are a team who, as I say, you have to be so on point when you're out of possession work, because if you're not, they're the type of team that can punish you. That's what happens when you're up against good teams and well-coached teams.”
Finally on the potential return of Harry Milne and Cammy Devlin, McInnes explained:
“I want the physio to chap my door and say they're good to go but we've not had that yet. I think we're surely quietly getting there. The game's still a couple of days away so I'm hopeful of getting one, if not two. I said that last week and I'm serious. I'm not being clever.
“I'm wanting both of them there but obviously the medical team know the pressures that I'm trying to put on them to get them back. Both Cammy and Harry, if they can be out there, they'll be there. Hopefully, we can see them on Saturday.”
You can watch Derek’s press conference in full on Hearts TV.
