Previous success against Hearts gives Spartans confidence going into derby

Spartans take on Hearts on Sunday as Debbi McCulloch hopes to replicate derby success from previous seasons.

Debbi McCulloch is still searching for Spartans’ first home win of the season. Credit: Spartans Women

Ainslie Park will host the clash on the weekend as the two sides clash for the first time this campaign. It has been an indifferent start for both teams as they look to get back to winning ways after a run of poor results.

Hearts will likely go into the tie as slight favourites after their quick rise in the SWPL1 now sees them competing at the top half of the table. However, recent head-to-head clashes between the two have seen Spartans come out on top more often than not, winning three of their last five games against their Edinburgh rivals. With McCulloch overseeing more than her fair share of victories over Hearts, she is hopeful that this record will help to bring confidence to her team on Sunday.

“When you perform well against teams you can take confidence from previous performances,” she told the Edinburgh Evening News. “However, everyone needs to turn up first and foremost, that is really important. Hearts still have the core members of their team from last season. Some have highly regarded SWPL pedigrees while others have developed theirs from their experience from last season and the success they had in the league.

“We are fully aware of that, but we are also aware of their weaknesses and the areas that we can exploit that will hopefully play to our strengths and cause them some issues. The last time we played them, Hearts were very good, and they outplayed us for the majority of the game. We need to make sure that doesn’t happen. Sometimes a good performance can give you confidence but sometimes when you don’t turn up, that can drive you and motivate you to do better than the last time.”

Spartans have received another boost before the derby as well with last season’s top scorer, Becky Galbraith, returning from injury for the tie. A full-strength squad is almost available for McCulloch’s side with only Caley Gibb out after Amelie Birse quickly recovered from her knock last week.

“She [Birse] is ok, it was just a wee bit of overuse,” McCulloch explained. “She had a bit of tendinitis but she has been training this week and everything seems ok. We also have Becky Galbraith back from injury so apart from Caley Gibb who picked up an injury against Partick Thistle in the Sky Sports Cup, we are at full strength which is great.”