Craig Halkett insists Hearts have the momentum going into their Scottish Cup semi-final against Hibs and it’s something they didn’t have previously.
Robbie Neilson and Jack Ross are plotting their respective game plans that they hope will secure them a final berth against Aberdeen or Celtic on 20 December.
The Jambos have played just five competitive games this season, but have won all of them and it highlights a mentality shift that Halkett has noticed since Neilson arrived.
“Last year, people from the outside looked at Hearts and thought we had a losing mentality and teams thought they could come and take points off us,” he said.
“From a player's point of view, that wasn’t good enough.
“But starting this season, the manager’s drilled it into us that he wants to win games and as many as we can.
“We’ve done that so so far, the players have confidence and it does help going into a big game such as this.”
From a personal perspective, Halkett signed for Hearts to play in these games and win trophies.
He didn’t expect to be playing in the Championship a year later, but occasions like tomorrow are much more like it.
“I signed with a club like Hearts to get to semi-finals and finals and try and win trophies,” he said.
“In the first six months, we managed to get to the Betfred Cup semi-final against Rangers but I missed it through injury, which was a huge disappointment.
“But I got myself back fit, the club got to another semi-final and it’s finally come around so just to get here is a massive delight for myself.
“Hopefully we can go and get the win.”
