Heart of Midlothian

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland

There is something different about Hearts at the moment. A welcome change and undoubtedly one of the reasons for success this season.

There is no sense of panic. On Saturday against Livingston the team went two goals behind and for the third time this season clawed their way back to earn points.

In years gone by the thought of going two behind at home to teams Hearts were expected to beat would have brought outrage and clamour for the fans to have managers sacked.

In December Ross County were 2-0 up and looked destined for a win only for Kenneth Vargas and Lawrence Shankland to find the net late on and earn a draw.

Then in January newly-promoted Dundee were 2-0 ahead at the break. This time Hearts secured all three points after a spirited fightback.

Saturday, though, was a shock. Livingston had only won three league games all season and here they were 2-0 up midway through the first half. Hearts responded with four before the break to the delight of the near-capacity crowd.

On Sunday it's a trip to Hampden to take on a Rangers side still battling for a domestic treble. There will be little room for error as Philippe Clement will have his team fired up for this one.

A place in the Scottish Cup final at the end of May is the prize. Hearts have lost all four meetings with Rangers this season and haven't beaten them for four years. Sunday would be the perfect time to put that right.

Heart of Midlothian could have to fork out about £150,000 for guaranteeing they would sell 21,000 tickets for Sunday's Scottish Cup semi-final with Rangers - because the total sits on 17,500. (Scottish Sun)

Hearts should be "smelling blood" in the Scottish Cup semi-final after Rangers' shock loss in the Highlands, says former Tynecastle midfielder Ryan Stevenson. (Daily Record)

Read the rest of Wednesday's gossip.

Image source, SNS

Hearts will host title-chasing Rangers on the final day of the Scottish Premiership season.

Steven Naismith's side kick off the post-split fixtures with trips to Kilmarnock and Celtic as the only team in the league to win at both venues this term.

Dundee will travel to Tynecastle, while Hearts will make their third visit of the league campaign to St Mirren.

Hearts' post-split fixtures (All times BST)

• Kilmarnock (A) - Saturday 27 April, 15:00

• Celtic (A) - Saturday 4 May, 15:00

• Dundee (H) - Saturday 11 May, 15:00

• St Mirren (A) - Wednesday 15 May, 19:45

• Rangers (H) - Saturday 18 May, 12:30

Greg Playfair
Fan writer

I can imagine thousands of Jambos had the same thought as me first thing on Monday morning and checked their work holiday calendars, following confirmation that Hearts will play European football for the third consecutive season.

The truth is, we’ve all checked months ago and have earmarked a few different dates, depending on what competition and stage Hearts enter at.

Saturday’s 4-2 win at home to Livingston confirmed that we will finish at least fourth, and without being disrespectful to the other sides below us, I’d be astonished now if we don’t finish third.

I looked round Tynecastle at 2-0 to Livingston and the thing that surprised me was just how level headed the majority of supporters were. There was no exodus to the Gorgie pubs, or verbals shouted on. There was just an expectation that Steven Naismith had to fix things.

To his credit, he did. The four goals we scored all stemmed from training ground tactics and focused attacks starting from our left-hand side.

Naismith has obviously been able to indoctrinate the team with his style of play and he needed time to do so in retrospect. With the time he’s been afforded, he’s been able to breed more confidence into the players and that has transferred into games and brought us success.

People always go on about ‘credit in the bank’ for managers and it’s fair to say that Naismith has so much of that at the moment, he’s having to set up a separate savings account.

I’m hoping we are still to reach our season’s crescendo with Sunday’s Scottish Cup semi final now being our biggest game of the season to date.

There’s no doubt that Rangers should still be the favourites to progress, despite their disappointment in Dingwall last Sunday. Everyone knows that Hearts haven’t defeated Rangers at Hampden but records are there to be broken.

It’s night and day when you contrast the feeling going into this match compared to the League Cup semi-final against the same opponents five months ago.

We go into the match with players in good form and a plethora of attacking options. I hope we really take the game to them and put Rangers under pressure right from the start.

It’s in these types of matches that cult heroes are born, I genuinely believe that they could see a new player leave Hampden with their place in Gorgie folklore secured forever more.

With the Scottish Cup celebrating its 150th year, could the club celebrating its 150th birthday be heading into the final?

Greg Playfair can be found on the @OorWeeChat Podcast, external.

Former Heart of Midlothian assistant manger Lee McCulloch says the Tynecastle club moved for Celtic winger Mikey Johnston in 2022 - but he didn't want to leave for another Scottish team. (Daily Record)

Read the rest of Tuesday's gossip.

Jonathan Sutherland
Sportscene presenter

After 22 minutes it seemed unlikely any Hearts players would make this edition of team of the week.

But Steven Naismith's side came roaring back in a clinical display to turn the tide and bag another three points.

Jorge Grant was the driving force in midfield and sparked the sensational comeback with the hosts' opening goal.

Once again, Lawrence Shankland made the difference in the final third, grabbing a goal from the spot and two assists for good measure.

However, the most pleasing aspect for the Tynecastle faithful may be the showing of Barrie McKay, who looked back to his best with an audacious range of passing on display. There's nobody quite like him in this Hearts side.

Pat Nevin and Richard Foster join Liam McLeod to pick over the bones of another incredible weekend of Scottish football drama.

They look back on Ross County’s historic victory over Rangers and discuss what impact it could have at both ends of the table.

They also assess the jobs done by Tony Docherty and Nick Montgomery as Dundee secure their place in the top 6 at the expense of Hibs and Motherwell.

Listen to today's episode of the Scottish Football Podcast here.

We asked for your thoughts after Hearts beat Livingston 4-2 in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday.

Here's a taste of what you had to say:

Ian: Good to score a few goals but the deficiencies in the defence continue. Livingston had scored only 20 goals in 32 league games but managed to score two in under half an hour against us.

Jeff: Great to see Barrie McKay back, hopefully he can stay fit for a run of games; he's an absolute diamond of a player on form. You can see in the first two goals that he and Lawrence Shankland have the same level of football brain and imagination, which can take Hearts up a level.

Chris: A scary start but we had that little bit of quality to create some good chances and we managed to see them away. Shankland was quiet as a striker but his ability to create chances for us is phenomenal. By far the most bonkers 45 minutes of football I’ve seen at Tynecastle.

Matty: What a game! It was a concerning start and you have to wonder if we would have been further behind against better opposition. However, the reaction is testament to this Hearts team spirit. Some great play and good goals. Jorge Grant played well and was a nice gesture to give Shankland the ball for the penalty.

Image source, SNS

Hearts keeper Craig Gordon insists there was no panic among the Hearts squad despite their slow start against Livingston on Saturday.

A Stephen Kelly double put the Premiership's bottom club 2-0 up in the first half, but Hearts recovered to win 4-2 at Tynecastle.

“There hasn’t been [any panic] and that’s the reason this squad have done what they have this season," Gordon said.

“It’s just about getting back to the game plan and doing things a little bit better. That's all it was. Just carrying out the game plan a little bit better than we had been in the first ten or fifteen minutes.

"We slowly got ourselves into the game and got the goal and once we got one we were on the front foot."

It was Gordon's first league start of the season, and a first since December 2022, as the veteran stopper prepares for next Sunday's Scottish Cup semi-final against Rangers.

"I’ve not had many games this season since coming back," Gordon added. "It’s good to get that one out of the way ahead of a huge game next week. One we will prepare well for all week and one we are looking forward to.”

The 41-year-old wants to stay between the sticks until the end of the season as he pushes for a place in Steve Clarke's Scotland squad for this summer's Euros.

“I need to play more," he said. "I need to play as many of these games between now and the end of the season as possible. If I can do that then I think I can give myself that opportunity.”

Were you at Tynecastle or following the match from home? Either way, we want your views on the game – have your say here.

Image source, SNS

Hearts manager Steven Naismith: "The two goals were a bit of a wake up call and we started finding that free player. I've spoken about being more ruthless...I just don't want us to be 2-0 down [first].

"It's the third time we've come from 2-0 down this season. That's a positive. I've been here a lot of times and it looks as if there's no hope of coming back in games like that. That's a big step forward. But to go further, is when you've hurt a team and you're 4-2 up and you can see there's opportunities, it's about keeping the tempo up and winning by more goals.

"That's me being pernickety but if we want o get better and be successful we should kill these games off."

Thomas Duncan, BBC Sport Scotland

Hearts move on to 62 points, one more than they managed in the 2021-22 season when they comfortably finished third - and there are still five games left.

That is a good benchmark of progress for Steven Naismith in his first full season as a manager.

Once they woke up they played some slick stuff, helped by the craft of returning midfielder Barrie McKay, whose clever passing helped set up two of Hearts' goals.

Jorge Grant was also excellent and is another example of a player who Naismith seems to have improved through good coaching.

Craig Gordon made his first league start since breaking his leg on Christmas Eve 2022 as a warm up for playing against Rangers in the Scottish Cup semi-final next week. His error for the first goal was poor, but he got valuable minutes nonetheless.

With third spot all but secured, all Hearts' attention goes to their showdown with treble-chasing Rangers at Hampden next Sunday. A trophy for Hearts would turn a good season into a sensational one.

Image source, SNS

Hearts goalkeeper Craig Gordon makes his first Premiership start since breaking his leg on Christmas Eve 2022.

Barrie McKay also comes in for just his second league start of the campaign as he continues his comeback from injury.

There are four other changes made by Steven Naismith from the win over St Mirren. Nathaniel Atkinson, Beni Baningime, Yutaro Oda and of course, Lawrence Shankland, also start.

Image source, BBC Sport

Hearts boss Steven Naismith says his side have to be wary of Livingston's threat despite their league position.

Naismith added that David Martindale's side "have never lost hope" and knows they'll put up a fight on Saturday.

“The one thing from watching Livingston is yes, they are in a struggling position at the bottom of the table but I don’t think they have ever lost hope," Naismith said.

“There has not been a feeling watching them that the expectation is that they are going down or they have lost fight.

"They have always shown they have been a threat and certain players in the team do carry a threat.

“At times, yes, we will have the ball and we will try to break them down but that has been more normal this season than in previous seasons.

“So we are comfortable in that setting but we have to be sharp on the ball, and see what opportunities there are for us and if we get that win it takes us that bit closer to being third and for the individual, playing for a place in the semi-final.”

Image source, SNS

Hearts head coach Steven Naismith says there is no pressure on Craig Halkett to return before the end of this term, with the main focus on making sure the injury-hit central defender is ready for a full pre-season. (Edinburgh Evening News), external

Read the rest of Saturday's Scottish gossip.

Hearts will have Lawrence Shankland and Beni Baningime back from illness and Calem Nieuwenhof hopes to recover from a hamstring injury in time. Finlay Pollock is back in training while Craig Halkett and Peter Haring (both knee) and Liam Boyce (hamstring) remain out.

Livingston boss David Martindale is unlikely to be able to fill the bench again with the likes of James Penrice (hip), Andrew Shinnie (groin), Joel Nouble (ankle) and Cristian Montano (hamstring) struggling.

Image source, SNS

Image source, SNS

Steven Naismith has appealed to Hearts supporters to buy the remaining Scottish Cup semi-final tickets to prevent losing equal ticket allocations in the future.

The Tynecastle club were allocated an initial 21,000 tickets, an equal split with opponents Rangers, and still have 4,000 tickets to sell before next Sunday's match.

“Hopefully they have [the fans] enjoyed what we’ve done this season, and we manage to get them all sold," Naismith said.

"I think we’re on the cusp of getting to the next level at different parts of the club, one of them being our travelling support. In our league games we’ve shown that we consistently sell out. Come to semi-finals, when you’re asking for a big chunk, you want to be able to sell that out.

“Not many clubs in Scotland would take 16,500/17,000, but can we get over the line? That’s the biggest thing for us as a squad, we want to have a packed stadium.

“I think we have gone beyond to get that and had to push to get that. The consequence of that is that you potentially lose that in the future. But listen, we’ve had great support all season and hopefully we can sell it out and everybody turns up on the day, on a successful day, to get us into the final.

“Growing up, some of the best memories are at those games. You maybe have a thought before the game but you’re glad you ended up going when it’s a successful day because you remember the memory for a while.

“Hopefully we can get over that line in the next week to sell out and we then put on a performance that deserves that backing.”