Hearts manager Daniel Stendel has claimed his side have nothing to lose when Celtic come to town on Wednesday - saying the low expectations mean his side 'can only win'.
The Edinburgh side have endured a dismal season so far and parted company with Craig Levein last month.
Austin MacPhee was placed in temporary charge and failed to turn their fortunes around, before former Barnsley boss Stendel was brought in following Hearts ' 1-0 defeat to Motherwell last Saturday.
But even the highly-rated German has struggled to get an immediate tune out of the players.
His first game ended in a home defeat to St. Johnstone, and things aren't expected to get too much better when Premiership leaders Celtic visit Edinburgh on Wednesday.
But Stendel says with the difficulty of the fixture comes a lack of pressure on his side that could work to their advantage.
"The advantage is that the expectation is not so high," he said. "As we would say in Germany, you can only win."
Many were expecting to see the German's signature high-pressing style of football implemented from day one of his regime, revamping the approach of a previously sluggish Hearts side.
But Stendel reckons overhauled tactics aren't the immediate answer.
His short-term priority is to improve the damaged mentality of the players who have won just once in their last 12 games.
"The main thing at the moment is not the style of play, it's changing the mind and the head and at the moment that I'm positive," he went on.
"I like to change things, look forward to things. I hope we can see small steps then every day a little bit more.
"Then we can win games maybe before the start of the transfer window. "
