Gary Mackay – Hearts cannot spoil good work of wins over Rangers and Hibs

Tynecastle side must keep momentum after brilliant derby win

Sean Clare celebrates his penalty in the Edinburgh derby

Psychologically, Hearts immediately have a better feel about themselves ahead of two massive games. They have to be aiming to hunt down St Mirren in the league table, which means Saturday against Motherwell becomes a must-not-lose.

The team needs to keep momentum after a brilliant win at Easter Road, so you then require to take something from Motherwell at home this weekend before the trip to St Mirren in midweek.Saturday might be an even harder game for the Hearts players because expectations of fans will be for a victory. The last two games have brought wins over Rangers and Hibs, but those have been a bonus.

The way Tuesday night’s victory was achieved, the euphoria will hopefully transmit from the terrace to the pitch. This team looks like it will respond to it.

Now it’s about trying to make sure Tynecastle is as intimidating as possible, starting against Motherwell.

That doesn’t mean anybody should be throwing things from the stands or anything like it. That has no place at our club. I mean away players being intimidated by the noise and by the drive that the home support gives the players. Hopefully we can produce that.

It is imperative we pick something up in each of the next two games and I’m sure the manager will be saying that. You can’t spoil the good work of beating one of the top two teams in the country, then your Edinburgh rivals, inside four days.

The league result was definitely more important, but let’s not forget that the league result was probably achieved on the back of the Scottish Cup result.

I have my own thoughts on where newspaper stories about Daniel Stendel’s training methods came from. However, the time between the St Mirren game being postponed and the Rangers game beginning has been crucial.

The manager used it wisely on the training ground, working on shape. Hearts look a far more solid team as a result.