From Wembley to Hampden: Kye Rowles explains Hearts' pivotal moment after facing West Ham's Jarrod Bowen

The Australian defender is enjoying a busy few weeks with club and country

A frenetic period for Kye Rowles is approaching what he hopes will be a memorable climax. The Hearts defender played for the club in European competition in Norway and Greece, travelled to the United States with Australia, faced England at Wembley and is now preparing for Hampden.

First is a Premiership meeting with Livingston at Tynecastle Park. That might seem rather low-key compared to Rowles' international galavanting of late, but it is a vital fixture as Hearts strive to climb the Premiership table. They then meet Rangers in the Viaplay Cup semi-final on Sunday at Scotland's national stadium.

"I think it’s a pretty pivotal moment now. Livingston is the first of two massive games for this week," said Rowles, mindful of just three wins in the last 11 matches. "Positive performances in both games would go a long way to steering everyone in the right direction. Not only us boys and everyone involved with the club, but for the fans and the community as well.

"Everyone needs a positive bounce back. If we can get two wins this week, starting with Livingston, it can go a long way. I think it would be massive for the confidence [to beat Livingston]. We want to go into this game with confidence, play a really positive style of football and get a positive result as well. We’ve been there in games and not quite got it done. Just for the confidence and belief it will be big to show we can play well and get the result as well."

Rowles lined up at left-back for Australia in October's friendly against England in London and revelled in the whole experience. "It was pretty special. It was different from playing in the centre, you are a bit isolated out wide but it was good fun," he smiled. "The stadium was massive and it was a bit of a bucket list [item] to tick off.

"Being a young Aussie boy, you don't really understand that playing at Wembley is such a special experience and it's very rare in anyone's career to play there. I was pretty starstruck by the whole occasion, walking out. It was great to be part of."

He found himself up against the goalscoring West Ham United attacker Jarrod Bowen. "It was pretty interesting. I was pretty much crossing my fingers that he didn't run at me," laughed Rowles. "I was probably going to swap shirts with Bowen because my older brother is a Hammers fan but I think Jacko [Jackson Irvine] played with him earlier in his career [at Hull City] so he was straight out there. I wasn't going to complain."

Although England won 1-0, Rowles retains fond memories from his maiden visit to Wembley. This weekend brings another first as he prepares to step out at Hampden. "I haven't been there yet so that'll be another good experience. I'm not complaining."