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Hearts in crisis

Motherwell are on really good form and have only been beaten by Celtic in the last seven matches

Despite several good opportunities and a solid match, Motherwell failed to surprise Celtic in Glasgow and were defeated in their last match, having won an excellent 13 points in the previous five matches. There's no reason to worry, Well are playing well, have a high placement in the table and are welcoming Hearts in a good mood.

However, despite Well's good form and Hearts' many problems, manager Stuart McCall isn't expecting an easy match:

- They have to rely on youngsters week in, week out which can be difficult and can be hard on them. You are likely to get inconsistency, but they are more than capable of putting in a performance like they did against Aberdeen or Hibs and winning the game. So we want to make sure we get that first goal and really try to go from there and not give the young lads any sort of hope. But it's a tough game on their own merit because they will be desperate and will have a big backing.

Today McCall can't count on experienced and very important offensive player McFadden, and Ainsworth is doubtful. The good news is that attacker Anier has fully recovered from injury.

Hearts' story so far goes something like this: 15 points were taken away from them due to debt, they were forbidden to get any signings and they only have a handful of experienced players. The season would have been difficult for them even with a clean sheet, let alone with a minus fifteen points. Manager Gary Locke was able to mobilise this very young team and Hearts started the season impressively. However, they had a poor run, they've only won a single point in the last five matches and the defeat in their last match against St Mirren was particularly painful since they could have been only six points behind had they won.

- We started the season reasonably well and got a lot of plaudits for it. In the last couple of games we've not picked up results so it's important that we get back on track. St Mirren was a disappointment, there's no doubt about that, but the week before against Dundee United I thought we played really well. So if we put in a similar kind performance on Saturday then I'm hopeful we can get the three points. I think the international break came at a good time. Some of our younger players were, in the last couple of games, maybe a wee bit off it. I've been pleased with the way we've trained this week and hopefully we'll put in a good performance on Saturday against a really good side. It'll be difficult as Motherwell, for me, are a top team in the division. Fir Park is a difficult place to go but as I've said on many occasions, all I can do is concentrate on Hearts - manager Gary Locke stated ahead of the match in which he'll have all his players at his disposal.

Hearts have shown so far in the season that they play best at home, where support from their noisy and faithful fans motivates these young players for some combative performances to make up for their lack of experience and even quality. However, they've been on a downward spiral here as well recently, with a loss to Celtic and draw with Dundee United, while losing to St Mirren was especially painful. It's another story with their away games, Gary Locke's team took a point at Partick and lost to St Johnstone, Inverness and Ross County. Motherwell are a top four team and far better than Hearts in terms of individual quality. Following defeats in difficult encounters with Inverness and Aberdeen, in the Europa League qualifiers, this team stabilized and has been on a steady course for almost two months now. Well are especially impressive at home where the won their last three matches.
As their manager McCall said in the preview, the most important thing for them is not to let the young Hearts players gain momentum and he announced an attacking approach from the very start. Considering the very good form of their striker Sutton, a former Hearts player who has scored five goals in the league so far, and of his strike partner Anier (four goals), I believe they can break the visitors' fighting spirit and win here.