Craig Halkett reveals the areas of his game he is working to improve as Hearts plan to sign new centre-back

Hearts defender Craig Halkett is keen to keep improving.

Craig Halkett is one of them. Aware his club covet the signature of the Kilmarnock defender Findlay on a pre-contract agreement, he is spurred on by the prospect of more competition and the desire to retain his place.

He admits his performances have not been “perfect” at times this season but is working on all aspects of defensive play in an attempt to improve. It is part of his ongoing quest to develop into a more commanding centre-half.

Hearts’ interest in Findlay comes in anticipation of automatic promotion to the Premiership. They are currently leading the Championship table with a 13-point advantage and the existing squad know new signings are in the offing.

“Yeah, I think it’s got to spur you on,” said Halkett, speaking exclusively to the Evening News. “I don’t think anyone in football should think they are at a certain club and they’re going to play every game.

First-choice when fit

“You need to work hard and train hard every single day to earn your place in the team. Then you have to perform on a Saturday.

“It’s only natural that the manager will bring in players in most positions to try and strengthen. To know that another centre-half will be coming in and challenging for the position I’ve got at the moment, it will only make me want to train harder and play even better on a Saturday.”

Halkett is a first-choice for Hearts when fit and has been partnered by both Christophe Berra and Mihai Popescu this term. John Souttar is expected to return from injury in time for the 2021/22 season.

The team as a whole have been criticised for the number of goals lost so far – 26 in 23 matches – but the last four fixtures have seen just one solitary concession.

Those statistics, naturally, will need to be better if the club are to return to the Premiership and make any impact next season.

Halkett offers a candid answer when asked if he is happy with his own performances. “For the most part, yes. There have been some occasions, goals, individual errors, where I thought maybe I should be improving. It was stuff that I wouldn’t normally do,” he said.

“Over the last few weeks we’ve knuckled down and really started working on defending outside the box. I think it’s shown over the last few weeks that it’s working.

“Individually, I wouldn’t say I’ve been perfect but I think everyone can still get better. I don’t think you will ever be happy until you sit back and look at your career and know you did your best.

Can always do better

“You can always improve and that’s something I want to do. I go in every day and work my hardest on everything – fitness, on the ball, defending, heading, attacking, the lot.

“I don’t think anyone is perfect at everything. For myself, it’s things I think I can always do better at.”

He and Popescu helped Hearts record three successive shutouts prior to Friday night’s 1-1 draw at Queen of the South.

A much-disputed penalty allowed Queens midfielder Ayo Obileye to end the run of clean sheets, leaving goalkeeper Craig Gordon visibly angry at losing what he hoped would be a continuing streak.

“Myself and Mihai started off well this season, then Christophe came in and took his chance. He dropped out through injury so Pop is back in now,” said Halkett. “For a defender, it’s good when you have a settled partnership, the same back four and central defence.

“I just have to concentrate on my own performances. We’ve started picking up clean sheets in the last few weeks, although we didn’t get one on Friday. It’s something we spoke about in-house. We were conceding far too many goals for our liking.”

Like his team-mates, the 25-year-old is still rather frustrated by events at Palmerston Park. The visitors controlled much of the play and were camped in Queen of the South territory but lacked an incisive breakthrough until Liam Boyce’s late penalty equaliser.

Difficult night

Halkett is reasonably content with a point and pointed to the astroturf surface as a particular difficulty in Dumfries. However, he is also acutely aware that Hearts should have the wherewithal to beat Queens even in their own backyard.

“We limited Queens to very few chances,” he explained. “They had the penalty in the first half and then Craig had one effort to catch in the second half, which was straight down the middle. Apart from that, they didn’t have much.

“We had a lot of the ball and dominated the game but I think we just missed that spark, the bit of creativity to get us through their defence. They sat deeper as the game went on and put more men behind the ball to make it more difficult for us.

“It’s hard to break them down but a team like Hearts, with the players we have in our squad, we should be coming up from something. The little positive is that we didn’t lose. We kept pushing and finally got the goal from Boycie’s penalty.

“There are very little positives to take. The boys were all disappointed not to get three points. As the manager said, it’s a difficult place to go on a difficult night and it wasn’t a great pitch at all. Deep down, we are frustrated.”

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