Hearts remain confident ahead of Edinburgh derby clash despite recent struggles

Hearts vice-captain Georgia Hunter has implored her team-mates to turn recent frustrations into fuel for beating Hibs in the third and final Edinburgh derby of the SWPL 1 season.

Eva Olid’s side have struggled in recent weeks. After advancing to the Scottish Cup quarter-finals with a 2-1 win over runaway SWPL 2 leaders Dundee United, they’ve since followed it up with defeats to Celtic, Partick Thistle and Spartans, as well as a draw with bottom club Hamilton Accies, who’ve tallied just six points this campaign. As a result, Hearts have slipped from seventh place and back into ninth, one place off the bottom.

Losing 2-0 to Celtic was understandable, given the disparity in resources, but the other results rankled. Thistle and Spartans were both winnable games, but Hearts shipped four goals in each – the latter without reply last weekend.

“We analyse our performances and it does get a bit confusing at times. Like, why are we conceding fewer goals against the real top teams in this league than the teams who are on the same wavelength as us? We should be winning games that like, so it's very frustrating. But we just need to turn that into motivation,” said Hunter, who’d played every minute this term until missing the Spartans match through injury.

Georgia Hunter goes up for a header in Hearts' 3-1 defeat to Hibs at Tynecastle Park earlier in the season. Picture: David Mollison

“Every week we come in and put in the hard work. We just need to focus better on putting what Eva wants from us into practice on matchdays. As a group we need to come together and produce the goods.

“Poor runs can knock confidence, but I'm still seeing everyone coming into training and giving 100 per cent. We never hit rock bottom. We're just determined to do as well as possible. A whole season is a process so there's still time. There's definitely some disappointment we've slid down the table a little bit. Yes it's an improvement on last season, but I think we should be higher up in the table.”

Sunday’s game will be a different encounter to what Hearts’ young squad experienced earlier in the campaign as several thousand spectators were invited for free to watch the first two games at Easter Road and Tynecastle, which Hibs won 3-0 and 3-1, respectively.

The match, held at Livingston’s Tony Macaroni Arena, won’t host a bumper crowd, but there will be a different kind of pressure after the events of the last week.

Georgia Hunter celebrates with team-mates after scoring against Partick Thistle, one of her four goals this campaign. Picture: David Mollison

“There probably will be more eyes on Sunday's game as a result of the men’s semi-final draw,” admitted Hunter. “It is a huge game. It’s the biggest in Edinburgh. Any support from the men's side when the women play in derbies is great, so hopefully that does big it up.

“We are feeling confident. We just need to forget about the negatives, forget about the losses and go into the match with an open mind. We need to do our best and show people what we actually can do.

“From the first game to the second game there was huge improvements within the team when it came to handling the pressure in a big game in a big stadium. So we're feeling a lot more comfortable with that pressure. We're understanding our roles more and we know the gameplan. We just need to get out there and do it.”

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