Liam Boyce insists he relishes the challenge of becoming the first Hearts striker to net 20 goals in a campaign since Gorgie legend John Robertson THIRTY seasons ago.
The Northern Irishman has been set the target by Robbie Neilson as the Jambos hunt success and with four goals from his first six games he’s off to a flyer.
Incredibly no Jambos player has hit the 20 mark since Robbo in season 1991-92.
But Boyce managed it twice in just three seasons with Ross County.
And ahead of the Premier Sports Cup trip to Celtic Park on Sunday, he said: “I think it’s like any striker, you want to get to 20 goals each season.
“It’s the sign of a good season, unless you’re Ronaldo or Messi or whoever!
“I’ve done it before at Ross County, I had good seasons there where I ended up top goalscorer.
“I just think it’s all about momentum.
“When you get a goal as a striker and you get a couple of games when you’re scoring, it hits off you and goes in and you don’t even think about it.
“People in our team will create chances with their quality and I know they’re going to come, so you just have to keep getting into the right areas, whether you’re on a run of form or not.
“Eventually it’s going to go in some way, so the more times you get yourself into those positions the more chance you have of getting 20.”
Boyce, who has struck an impressive 22 goals in 43 games for Hearts, was a winner in this competition with County six years ago and knows the importance of a good run with the Jambos.
But to have any chance of success they’ll need to complete an early season double over Celtic having beaten the Hoops in the league opener at Tynecastle.
That was achieved with the backing of 5000 Jambos. This time Boyce and his team mates are preparing to run the gauntlet of a Hoops-only support that could number anything up to 50,000.
He said: “It’s brilliant having fans back. You sort of miss that, if you’re 1-0 down in a game and someone puts in a good strong tackle and it gives you that boost.
“Especially in that first game, when it was getting tiring and getting to the end of the game, and Craig Gordon makes a big save.
“You saw our reaction and the fans impact that.
“We all know when teams aren’t doing well - and not that Celtic aren’t - that if you go to their ground and you’re doing well and creating chances then the fans begin to groan.
“That puts pressure on the other team.
“Hopefully we can do that and cause them problems and put pressure on them. Hopefully that works to our advantage.”
Hearts are still reeling from their Scottish Cup humiliation against Brora Rangers back in March.
But having been part of the County fairytale in this competition he knows going all the way is well within Hearts capabilities.
He said: “We still think about the Brora game. It hurts because we should have won that game. It was such a disappointment.
“Everyone’s in football to win trophies and we know this is a good chance. You don’t get that chance often and you have to take it when you do.
“We won this one at Ross County and it was a great day.
“It was probably the worst I’ve played in the final but the rest of the squad played well. I know how important it was for Ross County, being a smaller club, and how important it was for the town.
“Winning any trophy and getting any medal to look back on when you stop playing football is massive.”
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