Gary Mackay: Hearts face pressure as the Celtic and Rangers of the Championship

The Hearts squad must be ready for the season ahead.

Hearts are going to be everybody's target between now and next summer. We are the Celtic and Rangers of the Championship for the season ahead and we need to be aware of that. Everyone will target us.

First and foremost, everybody who wears that maroon shirt will need to have it uppermost in their minds that they need to win their individual battles first. Only then will they earn the right to play football.

Guys like Michael Smith, Steven Naismith, Liam Boyce will know what is expected of them. They are always up for the fight, both individually and collectively. You need guys like that who will put the hard graft in and then you go and play from there.

Going to places like Ayr United, Alloa, Queen of the South – you don't get anything easy at these places. It will be even more difficult this year if fans are still not allowed back inside stadiums.

We always benefit from a really big travelling support and not having that will be really disappointing. There are two strands to this, of course. Firstly, will fans be permitted into grounds? Secondly, many Hearts supporters say they won't go to certain away grounds.

As a result, creating your own atmosphere will be another challenge for the players during the forthcoming weeks and months.

An encouraging aspect of the team’s preparation is that the size of the first-team squad is gradually being whittled down.

The numbers always had to be dealt with and that's why we've seen Sean Clare, Bobby Burns, Callumn Morrison, Conor Washington and Colin Doyle leave. That frees up a wee bit of cash in terms of wages so it makes a difference.

Given the size of the squad, what happened with coronavirus, and the fact we are now in the Championship, I'm sure Robbie Neilson is aware of the need to spend money wisely. That's very important.

Personally, I'm disappointed to see Sean Clare go because I think he had developed into a decent player at Hearts. When you bring players up from England's Championship, you know they are going to be on decent money.

Loic Damour is another example of that. Robbie is talking about giving him a fair chance over weeks and months ahead and you do hope he takes that opportunity.

I don't have any doubt about Damour's ability. It's the desire to go and fight his corner I'm not sure of. Ultimately in Scottish football, if you don't fight your corner then your team is a man short.

Our new signings, Craig Gordon and Jordan Roberts, will both know that. Craig speaks for himself given everything he has achieved in his career. Jordan knows the Scottish game having played for Inverness and he has a bit of a physical presence.

You don't get time on the ball, people will be pressing and Hearts will need to break teams down every week. There will be large numbers of players behind the ball and it will be up to us to open them up. Jordan will know about that and should know how to deal with it.

Different challenges lie ahead for the management and players at Tynecastle, but so far I am liking what I see.

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