Stephen Humphrys reveals where Hearts' motivation will come from plus details of his ligament injury

This is a new experience for Stephen Humphrys as his Hearts loan deal enters its final few weeks. The last nine games of the season will involve an almighty push for European football at Tynecastle Park, something Humphrys is relishing.

He is often fighting for promotion or battling to avoid relegation in England’s lower leagues at this time of year. The climax to season 2022/23 will be decidedly different. After spells at Shrewsbury Town, Rochdale, Scunthorpe United, Southend United and his current club, Wigan Athletic, Humphrys knows the stakes are high.

Hearts don’t have their troubles to seek right now after a run of four defeats in the last five games. The insipid nature of Saturday’s defeat against Aberdeen, in which they found themselves 3-0 down inside 30 minutes, is still a raw issue. Humphrys returned from injury as a late substitute at Pittodrie and can therefore be absolved of blame.

If some players looked bereft of drive and application in the north east, there can be no excuse. Hearts are aiming to secure third place for the second successive year since gaining promotion back to the Premiership in 2021. They still hold a four-point advantage over fourth-placed Aberdeen after Saturday’s result. Motivation over the final weeks should be glaringly obvious.

Think back to last autumn when trips to Zurich, Riga, Florence and Istanbul saw fans singing, dancing and drinking their way across Europe. The Europa Conference League group stages was a new experience for all concerned and the desire to return to that type of platform should be Hearts’ greatest source of inspiration right now.

“It’s something that should motivate us all, something to take our minds off games like Saturday,” said Humphrys in an exclusive Evening News interview. “We have a chance to be playing against the Fiorentinas or whoever is in the competition next year. It’s a chance to test yourself at that level. There is no better motivation.

“It’s completely new for me, I’ve never done it before. Last season we were chasing promotion [with Wigan] and I’ve been in relegation scraps. I’ve never been chasing European football. It’s a nice challenge and it’s one which, growing up as a kid, you wanted to be doing. I’m enjoying the chase for European football. When I came to the club, that was definitely still the priority. The aim is to secure another European place and get some more European football for the fans. That’s our main focus.”

Hearts supporters will be relieved seeing the popular forward recovered after a month-long absence. A knee injury sustained at Fir Park on February 19 was initially thought to be minor, but scans revealed a torn medial collateral ligament. Thankfully, Humphrys had previous experience of such an injury.

Stephen Humphrys is fit again for Hearts after a knee injury.

“It was a slight tear on my MCL. I did it in the first minute of the Motherwell game,” he explained. “I just played on through adrenaline but I knew during the game it wasn’t right. I spoke to the physios at half-time and tried to play on. I was struggling and couldn’t really move so I said I would see how I went. In the end, I was brought off.

“I went for a scan about ten days later because it wasn’t getting any better. That showed there was a little tear in there. It was suggested at the time that it could have been a bit worse. I’ve done my left MCL before but this time it was the right one. They are just little niggly injuries.”

He had to be patient and carefully progress his recovery at the club’s Riccarton training base. “It’s all about your lateral movement. Straight running is fine. I had been running in straight lines for weeks, it was just the changing direction stuff. That’s obviously one of the biggest parts of football. It was a frustrating time but I’m back fit now. I want to kick on, work hard and try to get back into the team.”

With his power and pace, Humphrys is a useful asset to Hearts and could well play an important role in this European quest. His direct forward running with the ball often causes havoc among opposing defenders and gives the Edinburgh club a strong attacking outlet. Were he slightly fitter after injury, he might have been utilised for longer to help turn the tide against Aberdeen.

Duk and Bojan Miovski have scored 32 goals between them for Aberdeen this summer (Photo by Mark Scates / SNS Group)

As it was, a 14-minute substitute outing was his lot. He had seen enough from the bench before replacing Josh Ginnelly. “It was completely flat. You want the ground to swallow up because it’s one of those days you just want to forget,” admitted Humphrys.

“I can’t say it was a lack of effort. Aberdeen deserve credit because they caused us problems. We’ve got time to get a bit of rest in [during the international break] and look forward to the next game. That’s the best thing about football, you always have another chance to put it right. If we could play today it would ideal. The fans deserve better than they got on Saturday so we will do our best in the next game to put it right.”

Crucially, matters are still very much in Hearts’ hands. Their recent difficulties cannot disguise the fact that every other club in Scotland, outwith Celtic and Rangers, would love to be sitting in their position right now. It’s how they see out the campaign that matters.

“If you said to us that we would be sitting third, four points clear of the team in fourth going into the March international break, then that’s a good position to be in,” acknowledged Humphrys. “Obviously, we would rather have a ten-point gap but we need to forget that for now. We are in a good position at the end of the day and we need to push forward.”