John Souttar believes a Scottish Cup quarter-final win over Rangers would provide a vital lift to Hearts, although he admits we’ve been here before.
The Jambos staged a stunning comeback to beat Steven Gerrard’s side 2-1 at Tynecastle in January, and it was expected that they would kick on and drag themselves out of relegation trouble.
That hasn’t happened, and Daniel Stendel’s side find themselves two points adrift at the foot of the Ladbrokes Premiership table.
They now find themselves hosting the Gers once more with a place in the last four at stake, which would be the capital club’s fourth trip to Hampden in less than a year.
And despite survival being the priority, Souttar insists that cup success can spark a relegation survival run this time around.
“Free hit is maybe the wrong phrase but you know what I mean,” he said. “They have pressure on them and we have pressure on us as well. It is a big game for us, there is no getting away from that.
“A win would be huge, not just to get the club to Hampden again, for the fourth time in a row, which would be good.
“But it would give the whole place a lift and it could ignite something and give everyone a bit more belief. It could be a turning point and hopefully it is.
“Fingers crossed. I think everyone said that the last time and it hasn’t worked out.
“We go into this game with sort of a free hit because it’s a cup game.
“A cup run would be brilliant but our full focus is obviously on the league.
“So anything that happens against Rangers would be a bonus.”
The visitors will head to Edinburgh on a high after their brilliant midweek win in Braga to reach the last 16 of the Europa League knckout stages, where they will meet German cracks Bayer Leverkusen.
Their domestic form has left a lot to be desired however, much like Hearts, but Souttar and his teammates know what’s in store and believes they have the know-how to beat them again.
We’ve watched them do certain things, they’re a top team, everyone knows that,” siad the Scotland international.
“But if we play to our strengths at Tynecastle and play similar to the last time then we will definitely have a chance.
“I’m not too sure Wednesday will affect them, they have a big squad, they’ve got quality throughout their whole team.
“It’s important we just focus on ourselves, what the gaffer wants us to do and what we can do well and do that on Saturday.
“I watched the game the other night but we’ve watched Rangers quite a lot this season and played them so we have an idea of how they want to play.
“For us it’s doing what we can do and following the game plan the gaffer has for us.”
Rangers struggled to cope with Hearts’ high pressing style last month, whereas others have managed to exploit it.
While new ways of playing take time to master, Souttar is well aware that’s a luxury Hearts can’t afford.
He added: “I think the way the gaffer plays, it is a high line and we press the other team and I think we did that well against Rangers but it is the transition from how we wanted to play before and how we want to play now that is key.
“People say that it is going to take time but we don’t have time now. It has to start clicking into place. We are doing everything we can in the training ground and the manage is doing everything he can to get his ideas across and tell us what he wants from us. We need to start showing that on a Saturday.”
Given the failure to build on that January result since, failing to beat St Johnstone, Kilmarnock, Celtic and Hamilton, another win against the Light Blues is likely to lead to certain quarters accusing the Jambos of only raising their game against Rangers.
As far is Souttar is concerned, there’s an obvious response: “Of courseI But we’ll just need to beat Hibs on Tuesday to scupper that!”
