Fresh start in Hearts defence as Stephen Kingsley insists he wasn't overplayed

Another week will pass before Hearts can reunite their first-choice defence of Craig Halkett, Kye Rowles and Stephen Kingsley. Rowles is suspended when Kilmarnock arrive in Edinburgh today but should return at Dundee United on Christmas Eve.

Rowles and fellow Australian World Cup participants Nathaniel Atkinson and Cammy Devlin might have shivered upon touching down in Scotland from Qatar, but the heat of the cinch Premiership is building once more. Hearts are excited seeing Kingsley and Halkett fit again with Rowles poised to step in after his ban is served.

Kingsley found himself holding the fort as the other two nursed hamstring and foot injuries respectively prior to the World Cup break. Then another hamstring problem sidelined Kingsley himself, something he is convinced was not caused by any overdependence on his services.

“I wouldn’t say I was being relied on. You have more experienced lads in the back three or four. Craig has had a hard time and Kye has had his foot issue,” said the versatile full-back who regularly plays centre-back. “I wanted to make sure I was there for every game I could be to try and be that more experienced head in the backline.

“It’s been a crazy amount of times we have had to rotate the back four or five and play with different formations and players. It’s been difficult but it just adds to the feeling of disappointment that you have to come out and it needs to be rejigged and reset. I’m back now and feel good so hopefully less of that now.”

This is something of a defensive fresh start at Tynecastle given Halkett, Rowles and Kingsley have played together for just 27 minutes to date. “Looking back at pre-season we had a really solid time. Kye then got added to that and strengthened that and gave us more options,” recalled Kingsley.

“We played with that three in one pre-season game and then coming into the campaign I got injured before it even started. I think maybe the Zurich game away was the game he was talking about before Craig Halkett had to come off. That’s probably our three most experienced boys at the back and you’re wanting as many minutes together as possible. Consistency is a massive thing for your backline and hopefully we get more of that now.

“We had a lot of games and injuries have been a part of that. So, from that point of view, we need to work hard in training and make sure we have a consistent basis – that when we go into games we’re in a good place, we know each other’s games, and we feel comfortable enough to put in a good shift and keep some clean sheets.”

Stephen Kingsley is fit again for Hearts after a hamstring injury.

Rowles’ World Cup involvement prevented him working with Kingsley and Halkett over the last few weeks to hone their defensive understanding. “Yeah, but we did our own stuff and trained hard. You saw how well Kye did out there. It’s brilliant for him and Cammy and Natty to be out there, and good for us to see them reaping the rewards of their hard work as well. Everyone is delighted for them, we just need to get them back and hopefully all three will help us over the next few games.

“It was a great campaign for Australia, they did brilliantly, we were disappointed for Cammy not to get any minutes. But for Natty and Kye it was great to get that experience. They are obviously buzzing coming back in and seeing the boys and talking about their experiences and rightly so. They won’t be too happy coming back in to this cold weather from Qatar but I think they’re just buzzing being back amongst the boys.”

Whilst watching Qatar 2022 unfold, Hearts players noted a familiar face as the heartbeat of dark horses Morocco. The Fiorentina midfielder Sofyan Amrabat dominated both meetings between the clubs in the Europa Conference League in October and looked every inch a proper midfield enforcer. His influence was a major catalyst in Morocco’s progress to the World Cup semi-finals, where they fell to current champions France just a few days ago.

Kingsley recalls Amrabat well and wasn’t remotely surprised to see him make such an impact at the biggest international tournament. “Fiorentina’s league position wasn’t a true reflection of how good a team they are. They had players everywhere on the pitch who could hurt you,” explained the defender, who featured in both matches as the Italians won 3-0 at Tynecastle and 5-1 in Florence.

“Amrabat was one we looked at before we played them, and then after we played them there was a realisation of how much of a top a player he was. His performances at the World Cup did not come as a surprise to us boys. We watched a few of their games when we were away in Spain [at a winter training camp]. I sat and watched one with Michael Smith where he was man of the match and we were all talking about how that didn’t actually come as a surprise.

“He’s technically brilliant, his positional sense is amazing, the way he gets about and breaks up play, and he is calm and collected as well. So no-one here was shocked, to be honest. People maybe looked at Fiorentina’s league position and thought we had a chance to get at them.

“You need to realise how good a team they actually were and, with those kinds of players, it was always going to be difficult. However, that experience was amazing for us and hopefully we can get another taste of it next season.”