Hearts boss to repeat high pressing game at Motherwell

The head coach told the Evening News that his team will press Motherwell aggressively at Fir Park tomorrow as they look to build on Wednesday’s 4-1 victory.

Rangers were overwhelmed by Hearts’ tenacity and work rate at Tynecastle as goals by Krystian Nowak, Don Cowie and a Jamie Walker double secured an emphatic result.

Cathro is keen to harness that energy. He wants to increase momentum by following up the midweek win with another in Lanarkshire.

He said the hustling tactics which unsettled Rangers will continue over the coming weeks.

“The pressure allowed us to stay high up the pitch, so we win the ball in situations where sometimes you don’t need to do that much work,” explained Cathro.

“You have to play forward quickly, make movements into the right spaces, and then you’re already there. That’s going to be important for us.

“Also in our build-up play, where we can control some of the play and move the ball the way we want and create openings from there. To be able to do both of those things and show strength at set-plays is a comfortable place for us to be.

“The chance to build momentum after Wednesday comes tomorrow at lunchtime. We need to make sure we recover properly. The players will have all the support we need but we have to push hard at the start of tomorrow’s game.”

Whilst some observers viewed the defeat of Rangers as a surprise, Cathro stated he always expects his team to play with such authority.

“I’ve always expected this. I’ve always known where we’re going. I haven’t had any personal doubts about anything,” he insisted.

“The only frustration is that the fans haven’t seen enough up to this point to fully believe where we’re going.

“They’ve maybe seen glimpses, like the first half against Dundee, little bits of the Kilmarnock game and the Partick Thistle game.

“On Wednesday night, we maintained our levels throughout the 90 minutes and we managed to dominate the game across the piece.

“We’ve suffered a little bit recently. We had a positive result on Wednesday so we need to make sure we get another positive result tomorrow.”