Olly Lee hopes returning to Fir Park can reignite Hearts’ season

Steven Naismith celebrates scoring the winning goal at Fir Park in September with John Souttar and Callumn Morrison

Their last visit to Fir Park brought a 1-0 triumph over Motherwell in mid-September as Steven Naismith’s goal secured a fifth consecutive league win at the start of the campaign to take them five points clear at the top of the table. Supporters bounded back to Edinburgh dreaming of a genuine title challenge as all their main rivals made stuttering starts.

Much has changed in the intervening period, with Hearts losing their way in the closing months of 2018 amid a wretched run of long-term injuries to key men. As they prepare to head back to Lanarkshire this weekend, however, Hearts, who have won six of their past eight games, appear to be getting back on track.

“It was a hard fought 1-0 win the last time we went there,” recalled midfielder Olly Lee, inset. “We were on a good run of form back then. It was a really enjoyable period for us. At the time, when you’re in it, you don’t really realise how well you’re doing because you’re just taking it game by game.

Olly Lee is expecting a tough test against Motherwell on Sunday

“We were flying at that point and now that we’re getting a few lads fit again hopefully we can get back to that level.

“I think it’s only a matter of time before we do that. We need to get a few boys back up to speed and once that happens, we’re all confident we can get back to the level we were at the start of the season. It’s been well-documented that it’s been a tough period for us with injuries and things like that but hopefully now we’re turning the corner and we’re going to finish the season strongly.

“You can see that things are moving in the right direction, you’re starting to see more of what we were like at the start of the season. It’s still coming because we’ve still got Uche (Ikpeazu) and guys like that to get back to full fitness but I definitely feel like there are positive signs for the rest of the season.”

The influential Ikpeazu sustained his foot injury in the previous match at Fir Park and Lee has welcomed the return to action of the bustling striker following a four-month lay-off. “It’s a big help for me having Uche back,” said Lee. “We’ve now got a few more options going forward which helps my game because I can link up with them. The gaffer said before that the longer the ball is in the final third, the more effective I can be. I feel like I’m coming into a good bit of form and I’m looking forward to the games coming up.”

Hearts face one of the league’s form teams on Sunday, with Motherwell having won each of their past five Premiership matches to give themselves an outside chance of making the top six. The Edinburgh outfit can travel west in confident mood, however, after defeating Hibs and Kilmarnock in their last two away matches.

“It’s always a tough game at Fir Park,” said Lee. “They’re in good form, we’re in good form, so it should be a good game. Hopefully we can take our last couple of performances into Sunday.”

Hearts haven’t been aided, however, by the recurrence of their injury curse this week, with full-backs Demetri Mitchell and Michael Smith both set to be sidelined for the next couple of months. Lee is now one of the only first-team regulars at Hearts who has managed to avoid long-term injury this season. “It seems to be the case that we get a few back and then lose a few,” he said.

“It’s unfortunate for Mick and Demi but we’ll have to get by without them and hopefully they’ll be back as quickly as possible. Since I’ve been here, the injuries have been crazy. Nobody seems to get a one-week injury, a little stubbed toe or something, it always seems to be six weeks minimum.

“It’s been very unfortunate. It must be very frustrating for the gaffer that he can’t put his best XI out every week but that’s what a squad is for. We’ve got a strong squad and we’ve shown we’ve got players who can step up. I think the majority of the lads have picked up injuries so, touch wood, hopefully I can stay fit and healthy until the end of the season. Every team in the world is getting injuries at this stage of the season, especially in Britain, but we’ve also got big players coming back who will be like new signings for us.”

Lee’s father Rob, the former England and Newcastle United midfielder, has enjoyed travelling from his London home to Edinburgh to watch Hearts this season. “My dad was up quite a lot to watch us before Christmas and he’ll be back in the next couple of weeks,” said Lee. “He’s been enjoying it. He just comes to home games because he likes the comfy seats at Tynecastle. He likes it up here and tries to get up as often as he can and on other weekends he goes to watch my brother (Elliot) who’s a lot closer down at Luton. He was a big influence on me coming here. He came up with me and he liked what he saw so it’s been good to have his backing. He’s liked what he’s seen so far.”