Hearts star makes 'positive' attitude claim ahead of Motherwell Premiership clash

Hearts key man insists the Jambos can 'turn the tables' following Hampden Park defeat

Kye Rowles attempts to stop Rangers' second goal in semi-final clash

Hearts must put their disappointing Glasgow trip behind them as they prepare to take on Motherwell in the next Scottish Premiership match-day. 

After a competitive first half, in which the Jambos held Rangers to a goalless draw, it took only four minutes for the Gers to score when play resumed. Zander Clark conceded a penalty and just two minutes later, Scott Wright scored his first goal for the Ibrox side in 2023. 

To add insult to further injury, a free-kick was awarded to Philippe Clement’s side just outside the box and James Tavernier did not disappoint as he scored Rangers’ third and his second goal of the match. 

There was one moment of relief for the Gorgie-based side after Lawrence Shankland scored a penalty following a reversed red card decision but the single goal was not enough to heal the broken hearts of the Jambos. 

It’s now about looking ahead to the next fixture, however, as Hearts and Australia defender Kye Rowles hopes his squad can rebuild their confidence in time for Saturday’s clash. 

Speaking to Edinburgh News, the 25-year-old said: “We need to be positive on the ball and comfortable with keeping it for a bit longer. 

“You don’t have to score on every attack and you don’t have to just punt it up the field either. Being confident in our ability is something that Naisy is constantly drilling into us. 

“We need to believe in ourselves and have the confidence to play because we are a good side. We need to believe in ourselves a bit more and we will be drilling that in this week.”

This, of course, will be much easier said than done following a Hampden Park disappointment, coupled with yet another loss to the Glaswegian giants. 

“We are just disappointed.When you face teams like Rangers and Celtic you just can’t give them chances”, said Rowles.

“You see the second goal – we turn it over and they just flood forward. Teams like that, they are licking their lips with chances like that. 

“You just have to try and restrict them as much as possible and not give them a sniff as best you can. But now we are focusing on next week.”

Rowles has seen quite a significant change in his role at Hearts. The Australian started the campaign off, pairing up with Frankie Kent in the centre-half roles, but has since landed as a left-back following the switch to a 3-5-2 formation. 

This has been of little matter to the 25-year-old and the Socceroos defender believes it will in fact help them to ‘turn the tables’.

“I’m comfortable with (the change) and I like it. It helps us defensively too. In the first half (against Rangers) and maybe a bit in the second half, it was in the middle of the pitch a bit more. 

“First half, if we can put our foot on the ball and keep it for a bit then we don’t have to defend as much. You can defend to the best of your ability all day but if you are defending 30-odd crosses a game, one of them is eventually going to land on someone’s head. 

“If we can get that confidence to keep the ball a little more and make other teams defend, then I think we can turn the tables. 

“It’s a bit disappointing to have got so far. I thought we defended resolutely in the first half but unfortunately we caught one early in the second half and they just got on top of us from there.”