Hearts players ask 'What is happening?' after Hibs defeat

There is genuine bewilderment among Hearts players following Sunday’s defeat by Hibs in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final. Firstly, they are exasperated losing to their city rivals at Hampden Park for the first time and missing out on a cup final place. Moreover, the club’s relentless injury problems are threatening to derail a team more than capable of challenging for trophies this season.

Ten Hearts players are now sidelined by injury following a costly 90 minutes against Hibs. Midfielder Tomas Magnusson and top goalscorer Calvin Miller were forced off during the 2-1 loss, joining Christian Borchgrevink, Craig Halkett, Harry Milne, Blair Spittal, Tom Renaud, Oisin McEntee, Eduardo Ageu and Rogers Mato on the treatment list at Riccarton. Thursday’s UEFA Conference League tie against FC Thun in Switzerland is looming and the squad are, understandably, wondering what is going on.

Laurent Mendy is the only fit and available central midfielder for the European trip with Yan Dhanda is not in Hearts’ Conference League squad. Finlay Pollock has not played since April 2025 but may well be required at some point in Switzerland. Head coach Wouter Vrancken must gather anybody able to stand upright and rally them all together in an effort to overcome an injury run the likes of which no-one at Riccarton has ever known.

“We're looking at each other like: ‘What is happening?’ You know what I mean?” says defender Jordi Altena. “It's big numbers now and it keeps on going, so no, I've never experienced this type of situation, but it is what it is. I think it's just bad luck. I don't know. Of course it does impact us. It's a pity for the guys themselves, for sure, but I think if you see the injury list now, it's also a lot of important players for us. I don't think that's an excuse for us to lose on Sunday because I think we deserved more than we have now, to be honest, if you see the second half.

“At the end of the game, the coach just said that he was proud of the second half and that he thought we deserved way more than we got in the second half. He said that, in the first half, it looked like we were a little bit distracted because of the injuries. We just need to keep on moving. This is football and we need to keep going. The games come fast after each other. It helps, for sure, to forget other games, but on Sunday it was just a terrible feeling because it's also a big load on the game by itself and it's a fast way to a prize, so it's disappointing.

“It's a big blow for us because I think we are on a good route. I think everybody trusts each other, even with injuries, so it's an unexpected one, to be honest. It disturbed us a little bit, for sure, because the guys who came in clearly needed to find the rhythm. You saw the second half was much better, but we were 2-1 down. We kept on pushing but didn't score. I think the injuries didn't help, for sure.”

Hearts head to Switzerland hoping to garner some kind of result after taking only one point from their opening two Conference League ties. “I think we played quite well in Europe, also in the league, but it's just some specific points that we need to improve on, especially scoring goals and defending goals,” explained Altena. “It sounds a little bit easy, but I think at the end of the day it is like this: you need to be ruthless in the final third at both sides, so I think that's something we can improve on. It's now about recovering from Sunday’s game, talking about what we could do better, and we'll see on Thursday.”

The Dutch full-back may well be required in midfield against Thun because of injuries in that area. He is prepared to switch if asked. “I don't think that's a big problem. I think there are a lot of players now who play out of position,” he said. “I think you just step on the field and go and do your thing and work hard. I think that's the base of everything, and I think everybody did it well.

“I don't think picking ourselves up after Sunday is a problem because mentally we're strong. We showed that this year because we had some losses where we needed to recover from. I think this is exactly one like this. I think we have some days to recover, to talk about this game, and then on Thursday it's a new chance for us.”