Exclusive:Hearts face a striker decision as Wouter Vrancken demands better
Saturday’s game at Kilmarnock provides a dilemma for the Tynecastle coach
Having won six of their last 12 meetings with Kilmarnock at Rugby Park, Hearts travel down the M77 with confidence tomorrow. Tuesday’s 2-1 defeat at Falkirk was a jolt as a nine-game unbeaten run ended. Nonetheless, the feeling at Riccarton is that there is sufficient wherewithal within the squad to respond accordingly against the Premiership’s bottom club in front of the Premier Sports cameras. Whether Hearts succeed or not may rest heavily on who they select in attack.
American striker JJ Williams is pushing for his first league start since a £100,000 transfer from Rhode Island FC last month. A Jamestown Analytics recommendation, he was put forward as a mobile, physical and clinical centre-forward who would offer Hearts something different. On the evidence of three substitute outings, plus a goal on his only start in the League Cup against Stenhousemuir, he appears to do that.
However, teenager James Wilson is the man in form with five goals in his last seven games. He scored Hearts’ equaliser at Falkirk before being replaced by Williams at half-time. The reason for the substitution was that head coach Wouter Vrancken wanted a different profile of striker for the second half. The young Scot is growing into a very capable No.9 who has repaid Vrancken’s faith in recent weeks. It remains to be seen if he retains his place at Kilmarnock, or if Williams is given more exposure as a recent signing.
“James was okay in the game on Tuesday,” Vrancken told the Edinburgh News. “He scored a good goal, for sure. In the rest of the game, he wasn't really involved in the situations. We wanted to keep the ball a bit higher with the profile of JJ. It worked well in the first moments of the second half. We could dominate the game a bit more. We had a good chance with JJ, an open chance when he could score and could change the game. Then we gave it away again with the second goal.”
Kilmarnock look to be in a fight against relegation but helped their cause with a 1-0 win at Hibs on Tuesday. That proved to be David Gray’s last match in charge of Hearts’ Edinburgh rivals. “Yes, so a renewal of confidence there for Kilmarnock,” acknowledged Vrancken. “I think also the most important is, after our game at Falkirk, that we focus on the things we want to see. We have to be the best we can be. Then, in the back of our minds, are the strengths and weaknesses of the opponent.
“I think the focus has to be on our performance, to be the best, because Falkirk was not good enough. We have to step up there. Especially on the ball, we have to do better, and then trying to make the best of it and getting a result. With the support of 3,500 fans who will be there supporting us, that is unbelievable and amazing to see. We have to give them, and ourselves, a good end to this first series of games.”
Hearts continue to manage injury problems with midfielders Tom Renaud and Blair Spittal out alongside defender Craig Halkett and goalkeeper Zander Clark. Eduardo Ageu has an outside chance of being involved this weekend but has not played since February, while defender Malachi Fagan-Walcott is edging nearer a return. Players are determined not to use injuries as an excuse for defeat at Falkirk. “I wouldn't like to think so because I think everybody here thinks they deserve to play, so when we get that opportunity, we all want to show that we should,” explained centre-back Jamie McCart.
“I don't think there's an excuse that there are too many changes or injuries, because we've got the squad depth to deal with it. I think we've shown previously that we have dealt with it. That just makes Tuesday even more disappointing. When you look back at the end of the season, you see games like that and you think it's more about how you respond to them. We've had a real positive start after the European games, so I think it's for all of us as players to deal with that and show on Saturday how we respond to it in another tough game.
“I think we should learn from Tuesday. We should look at it but we should also take confidence from the previous games and get back to our best. We just we want to get to the next game as quick as possible. We want to get this out of our system and get another three points.”