Kye Rowles doesn't want Hearts to finish third every year as he prepares for a cheeky dig against Celtic

Kye Rowles is feeling the cold, wrapped in a puffer jacket and beanie hat when we meet at Hearts’ training ground. Indoors is pleasant but the Australian defender is shortly heading outside and admits to struggling with the freezing weather.

Temperatures around 30 degrees Celcius back home in New South Wales aren’t making him feel much better. However, it is about to get considerably warmer for the competitive centre-back. Tonight’s Premiership visit to Celtic will take place amid a white-hot atmosphere in Glasgow before Saturday’s Scottish Cup quarter-final against the same opponents at a hostile Tynecastle Park.

He is relishing the prospect of both fixtures as Hearts look to make an impact against the league leaders. Rowles arrived last summer from Central Coast Mariners and is already a mainstay in the Tynecastle defence having recently signed a new and improved five-year contract. He knows the territory already. Anything garnered in Glasgow’s east end tonight would be considered a major bonus.

“It’s going to be two challenging games although they will be very different,” he says. “Tonight is a tall order but we have been working on stuff this week, ways that we can play our game and be at our most productive. We are only going there with a positive mindset because a good result tonight would give us all the confidence in the world for Saturday.

“There is enough belief in this squad. You don’t want to turn up, lie down and just let them play their game and dictate it. Then it’s just a waste of your time. Celtic Park is a bigger pitch so there are times when you can and can’t go [forward]. We will try to soak up some pressure and make the most of our own opportunities.”

A central reason Rowles might feel the heat this evening is that he is likely to be tasked with shackling the Premiership’s most prolific striker. Kyogo Furuhashi has 24 goals in 36 club appearances so far this season. The Japanese scored in Celtic’s 2-0 victory over Hearts last August and is likely to keep his Australian opponent busy again this evening.

“If teams knew how to stop him they’d probably be doing it,” smiles Rowles. “You need to minimise the early crosses. Their forwards’ movement in the box is always so sharp. You should always be scanning, making sure all your defenders and the holding midfielders are in the right spots around the penalty area. We need to put pressure on the ball as much as we can, always getting a foot in, challenging for headers and blocking shots. That will go a long way.

“I played in the last game there and getting a feel for what the stadium is like was a great opportunity. We want to increase our lead in third place and I’m excited to go there again.”

Hearts defender Kye Rowles is preparing to face Celtic in Glasgow.

Beyond that, Rowles’ ambitions to get closer to Celtic and Rangers matches those of his paymasters in Edinburgh. Hearts’ priority is finishing third in the Premiership and qualifying for European competition, but Rowles does not feel that should not be the extent of their aspirations each year.

“That gap is still there. We don’t just want to come third every year. You want to challenge the top two so the first step towards that is competing against them when we play them. Not only that, we have to turn into a team like them. Home or away, against every other team in the league, they get the job done.

“If we have a bad game but still win, like we did during December and January, that’s the level we need to get to. If you get results game in and game out, then we start turning into a team that others will sit back against. They won’t come out thinking: ‘Yeah, we can get something.’ Once we get to that level that’s when the gap will start closing. We aren’t too far off it. Our consistency has been good for extended periods this year so hopefully we can keep building on that.”

Facing up to Celtic also means confronting three of his compatriots. Midfielder Aaron Mooy, manager Ange Postecoglou and first-team coach Harry Kewell are all contributing factors in the recent success at Parkhead. Mooy is enjoying an outstanding campaign having been Rowles’ World Cup team-mate just a few weeks ago in Qatar.

The Hearts player is primed for an on-field exchange if it transpires, although he stressed it would only be good-natured. “Aaron will leave it and see us after the game. If we get close enough on a set-piece, he might have a cheeky little dig. I haven’t heard from him yet but I’m sure we’ll get a good chat tonight,” he smirked.

Any Hearts success tonight would entitle Rowles to lord it over Mooy later this month when the Australia squad gather for back-to-back international friendlies against Ecuador in Sydney and Melbourne. “Us Aussies are pretty friendly towards each other. We are also very competitive,” he says. “As much as I love all the other Aussies, I want to beat them just as bad. Just so you have the bragging rights over them. There is definitely a bit of that. Then, when you go into an international camp, you can give it: ‘We did you lot last game.’ That kind of stuff.

“We have a camp coming up so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to give it a good crack this week and make something happen. Celtic are on a roll so it would be good to push them a few extra yards in these two games. We are up for it and we will give it a good crack.”