Fresh from a six goal thriller at Pittodrie Motherwell travel to Tynecastle on Saturday looking to extend their unbeaten run.
Motherwell’s slow crawl away from the danger area continued with a wonderfully unpredictable 3-3 draw at Aberdeen on Wednesday. That extended the unbeaten series to six games. Stretching that to seven on Saturday would be ideal.
Warm up
Callum Slattery’s first half goal was enough to send three points back to Lanarkshire when the teams last met in the capital. Hearts were unable to overcome ten men in the September sunshine. Since then fortunes have diverged and Hearts are now comfortable holders of third place in the league table.
Adam Devine and Jake Vale were given starting positions in midweek and the young right back capped his promotion with his first senior goal. Theo Bair continued his productive spell with a couple. Will Stuart Kettlewell keep the same forward pairing?
Hearts are on an impressive run of form. Ten wins and a draw in the last eleven games has them ‘best of the rest’ and in the Scottish Cup quarter finals. It is no wonder that the bookies have them listed as odds on favourites.
Much of their success to date rests on the predatory instincts of Laurence Shankland. With 25 goals from his 35 appearances he is a threat that must be marshalled if Motherwell are to have any success.
In their last outing Hearts gave Craig Gordon an outing as Airdrie were put to the sword in the cup. Whether Gordon of Zander Clark appear in the line-up Motherwell will have to be at their best to score.
The visitors’ midweek exertions may give the home side enough of an advantage to tip the balance. Maotherwell will give their all but it may not be enough to prevent a 2-0 defeat.