Invaluable experience

Ian Cathro has expressed his delight at securing Aaron Hughes’ services for another year and believes the Northern Irishman has a big role to play going forward.

Aaron arrived at Hearts in January and played eight first team games before being sidelined with injury. He today handed Ian a double boost by returning to fitness as well as signing a one-year contract extension.

Speaking to the press ahead of Sunday’s Ladbrokes Premiership match against Aberdeen, the Head Coach explained the reasoning behind offering Northern Ireland’s most-capped outfield player a new deal.

“I’m very happy he’s signed. It’s something we’ve been certain of for quite some time. There’s many reasons for offering Aaron a new deal, the main being that he’s a very good footballer,” said Ian.

“He also brings experience and he’ll play an important role alongside the other senior players. These are guys who can help everyone here.

“It’s important to have the correct blend in the team. We need young talent with the hunger to reach the higher levels, but they’ll also benefit from players who have already attained that.

“Guys who have built up a confidence that nobody can rock. Nobody’s taking confidence away from guys like Aaron or Don Cowie, they’ve built it up over the years and it’s not leaving them.

“This is a club where we want the pressure of having to win all the time and we need guys who can deal with that.”

The Jambos face Aberdeen this Sunday in what will be a special afternoon at Tynecastle as the 103-year-old Archibald Leitch Stand hosts its last ever game before being demolished. Ian insists the team will be going all out to make it a day to remember.

“It’s a historic day and there’s so many stories associated with the stand. We’ll be doing everything we can to ensure that when people talk about the last ever match in front of the Main Stand then we’ve either won it or left ourselves dead on the grass trying to do so.

“Aberdeen will be well organised and they’re a very resilient team. I think we understand them quite well now and we know we have to do a lot better than what we have done in the last two games against them.”