Head coach Neil Critchley insists it’s imperative that Hearts keep their standards high in an effort to maintain their good form ahead of Monday’s Scottish Cup tie against St Mirren.
The Jambos remain unbeaten in 2025, following a 6-0 victory at Dundee last weekend and having been awarded Manager of the Month for January, Critchley acknowledged it’s a nice award to receive, but is targeting further success with the Jambos.
Speaking to the media about the award at the pre-match press conference, he said:
“It's nice. It's recognition of all the work that's been going on, it's always a collective effort, obviously. So, credit to all the staff and to all the players for how they've been performing. But it's only one month of the season, so hopefully we can win more in the future.
“We have enough experience in our dressing room to make sure we don't take the foot off the pedal. The message straight after the game on Saturday.
“So, myself and the staff and the experienced players, it's up to us to make sure there's no complacency. We are where we are, or the form that we're in, because of how we've been training every day, and how we prepare, and that's what gets you the success.
"So, to have that level of sustained success, that comes down to how you behave every day in your collective behaviours, your environment, and that's something that I've seen in the past at other clubs, and the success that that can bring. That takes time to develop, and we're on that journey right now.
“I'd say it takes time to build all aspects of your team. We were very clinical on Saturday, scored some fantastic goals, and we defended brilliantly well as a team. Not just in the penalty box, because we weren't in the penalty box often, but we defended as a team, together.
"But if you actually look between the two penalty boxes, in the middle, if you look at the possession and the amount of passes, it was very similar. We were just ruthless at one end. When I came in, I remember saying that we've got to improve at both ends of the pitch, and we've done that
"Over a period of time, I want us to be a dominant team on the pitch, to try and control games better. That gives you the best chance of winning games over a period of time. So, we were brilliant at both ends on Saturday, but again, you analyse all the games, all the performances, and we're always striving to improve, and we've got to try and improve on what we produced on Saturday.”
The Jambos face the Buddies in front of the TV camera for a spot in the last eight of the competition and the head coach is aware of the challenge that lies in wait for the men in maroon, but is keen to create more Scottish Cup memories for the Hearts faithful, having been informed about previous cup successes.
“Yeah, you've got to look at the win at Aberdeen, haven't you? And then beating Rangers recently at home, so we know it's a tough game. We know Stephen Robinson, obviously a vastly experienced manager, has been very successful with St Mirren.
"So, in a cup game, the former goes out the window, so to speak, a little bit. They're off the back of a defeat, so they'll be looking to put that right, and we want to try and keep our good form going. This is a competition that we want to go all the way in if we can.
"So, we're looking forward to the game, it's on the television, and we're aiming to be in the next round, obviously.”
“I'm fully aware of the history that we've got in this competition," he continued. "I know we've had some near-misses in the last seasons, losing out on close games and penalties, and I know our last victory was the 2011-12 season. Which is fondly remembered. Hearts is a club that want to be competing for trophies, we want to be successful, and you want to create memories, and I know people obviously talk about those victories.
"I think it was 1998 before that, wasn't it? And over 200,000 people lining the streets, and Gary Locke was talking to me about it the other day, and we all want that, we wouldn't want that! So we're well aware of it, some of the staff have been here for a long time, speak about those stories and the memories, and it's brilliant.
"There's nothing more than I want to do with this staff and this group of players, is to go all the way in this competition.”
You can watch Neil’s press conference in full on Hearts TV.
