Hearts’ John Souttar inspired by Aaron Hughes’ dinner speech on winning trophies

Words of wisdom from veteran Hearts colleague Aaron Hughes last weekend helped underline the importance of the impending Scottish Cup final showdown with Celtic. In addition, the sight of his old housemate and Dundee United team-mate Andy Robertson preparing for a second successive Champions League final with Liverpool acts as a driving force for Souttar.

The Hearts defender has grown close to Hughes over the past two years, and listened attentively over dinner at the weekend as the 39-year-old Northern Irishman lamented the fact a career spent mostly in the English Premier League – and which allowed him to win over 100 caps for his country and play in a UEFA Cup final (with Fulham in 2010) – was never crowned with a major trophy.

“We had gone out for food and someone stood up and said congratulations on your last appearance and Aaron got up and said a few things,” explained Souttar. “He said ‘look, it’s a cup final, you have to realise how important this game is’. He’s played through his whole career, 650 games or whatever, a lot of them in the Premier League, and he’s never won a trophy. He said ‘I would swap a lot of those appearances for a trophy.’ He told us this is a massive chance for us that we need to grasp with both hands and said we need to do everything we can to win because sometimes you don’t get as many chances as you think. I took a lot from it because Aaron is someone who has done so much in the game and yet he hasn’t won a thing. He stressed not to let it bypass us. It definitely struck a chord with me.”

Aaron Hughes took the captain's armband from Souttar when he came on against Celtic last Sunday

Hughes appears to have played his final senior match of a long career after he came off the bench for the last quarter of Sunday’s 2-1 Premiership defeat at Celtic Park. Although the veteran hasn’t played regularly over the past year, Souttar insists he has been a big influence on him during their time as team-mates. “He’s been massive behind the scenes,” said the Scotland internationalist. “You might not see him on the pitch but a lot of his work goes on off the pitch. He sets standards on and off the pitch. It’s been brilliant for me to learn off someone who’s achieved so much in the game. You learn off him every day and I try and take some of his values and tips and put them into my game. I took a lot from Aaron during his time at Hearts anyway because of what he has done in the game so when he speaks you make sure you listen.”

While Hughes has come to the end of his career, another of Souttar’s peers is currently in his prime. The 22-year-old spent a season as both a flat-mate and team-mate of Robertson at Dundee United in 2013/14. The Scotland captain, now 25, has been a key member of a swashbuckling Liverpool team pipped for the Premier League title by Manchester City and currently preparing to face Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League final in Madrid on Saturday week, seven days after Souttar chases his own piece of silverware at Hampden. The Hearts defender can’t fail to be motivated by his friend’s remarkable rise to prominence.

“I see him a few times when we go away together and we’re in group chats,” said Souttar. “I went to see him last year when Liverpool played Everton when we were off at New Year and watched from his box. It’s incredible what he’s doing. He’s an inspiration for any player in football. What he’s achieved, two Champions League finals on the bounce, he just keeps doing it. It’s getting boring now saying how well he’s doing, but it’s incredible. It’s brilliant, he plays without fear. That’s what we’ve got to do at the weekend - play without fear. That’s what Andy does in every game - he doesn’t think about it, no matter who he plays, he just stays focused and he’s an inspiration for every footballer out there.”

Souttar was a starry-eyed 13-year-old when he watched from the Hampden stand as Dundee United defeated Ross County in the 2010 final. Four years later, he was an unused substitute as United lost 2-0 to St Johnstone in the final at Celtic Park. Souttar’s current Hearts team-mate Steven MacLean, incidentally, scored the second goal for Saints in that match five years ago. After being on the periphery of it in his previous visits to Scottish Cup finals, the burgeoning defender is hopeful of playing a prominent role in a Hearts victory this weekend, a feat which would represent a notable landmark for the club five years on from exiting administration.

“You’ve got to look forward to these occasions,” he said. “This is what you want to be involved in, big games like this, big occasions for the club. You’ve got to be buzzing for it. When I came here I wanted to be involved in these occasions and for one reason or another it hasn’t really happened over the last few years. But we have been in the Betfred Cup semi-final this year and now a final, that’s a few big occasions. Hopefully this time we can cap off what has been a tough few years for the club. I think a lot of people at the club are due this, so it’s important that we do the job.

“I’m surprised we haven’t been to a final before now because in my first season we qualified for Europe. A lot of different things have happened over the past few years – it’s been a long three years. But a lot of people at this club deserve a trophy – the owner, the gaffer, people behind the scenes. From where the club was just before I came [when it was in administration], it was a long way from a cup final and people’s jobs were at risk right through the club. Gogsy the kitman always talks about cup finals and it would be massive for a lot of people at Hearts to show how far the club has come in such a short space of time. It’s up to us as players now to go and do that.”

Hearts are big underdogs for Saturday’s final. Their poor league form going into the match has done little to encourage belief that they can stop a Celtic side chasing a historic treble-treble. Souttar, however, is attaching little significance to the fact his team haven’t won a match since the semi-final victory over Inverness Caledonian Thistle almost six weeks ago. “Our form of late in the top six, we have been missing people, people have been rested and things like that,” he said. “I don’t think as a group we can read too much into the results since the split. In the season when Steven MacLean won it with St Johnstone, I don’t think they won many in the top six before that. They went up to Inverness and got beat 2-0 the week before. It’s a one-off game. Obviously it’s a cliche but form doesn’t really count in the cup final.”