Hearts plan for star after return vs Stenhousemuir as Wouter Vrancken rotation game works a treat
Hearts boss made six changes from their previous league fixture against Dundee
Hearts boss Wouter Vrancken hopes midfielder Yan Dhanda will regain some ‘confidence’ after he got on the scoresheet in their 3-0 Premier Sports Cup quarter final victory at Stenhousemuir.
The Englishman came on as a substitute in the 65th minute for his first appearance since Hearts’ last League Cup clash against Inverness Caledonian Thistle on August 16. Shortly after, he was set up by new signing JJ Williams for a tap-in to seal the win. The American striker opened the scoring himself at Ochilview Park before fellow forward Rogers Mato doubled their advantage.
Williams and Mato were two of six changes made by Vrancken from the side that defeated Dundee 2-1 in their last Premiership outing. With attacking big hitters such as Claudio Braga, Josh McPake and James Wilson all missing out, the Jambos boss took comfort in the fact he can rely on his fringe men - including Dhanda from the bench - to produce the goods.
Vrancken asks Dhanda to ‘push’ himself after finding target
The former Swansea City and Ross County midfielder spent last season on loan at Dundee, where he nursed and at times played through a minor foot injury before breaking his nose in March. Dhanda has always been a composed figure in the middle of the park for the Jambos since his move from County in June 2024 - and with fitness concerns now behind him, the manager is hoping he can help him get back up to speed.
Vrancken said of Dhanda: "Everybody who is in the squad who was training with us has to push themselves to get as close as possible with the team - and it's also good for him that he could take those minutes to find the game, find his game in what we want from him. It’s also good for him again that he can score a goal, it gives extra confidence.”
Six changes - same result
The Jambos have now won six and drawn two of their last eight as they prepare for a Hampden semi-final on Halloween weekend. With an intense upcoming fixture list, the manager is happy he can rely on his whole squad in cup fixtures of this nature. As well as Williams and Mato, attackers Sabah Kerjota and Sabri Guendouz were drafted in from the start along with full backs Christian Borchgrevink and Harry Milne.
Discussing squad rotation, he continued: "I’m happy to see this. Because with all those games coming, you have the domestic games, we have the European games, the semi-final. So there's a lot of games, but that's what we play for. We want to play these games. And now it's on us to try to manage it like we did already from the start, as soon as possible, and try to even improve our game, I think we can make some extra steps there.
“I’m just happy to see that it's not about 11 players that we can count on the whole squad. It's really exciting to have a semi-final at Hampden. That was the goal of this game. Like I said before the game, then we were focused. I was happy also to see that the players were focused on this game and not thinking already on the Hampden game.”