Craig Halkett insists the lack of a winter break is a blessing for Hearts as they look for a January restart on their broken season.
The defender accepts Thursday’s derby disaster was another low point in a depressing campaign that has seen the Jambos win just four of 19 league games to sit second bottom. Some might say a break in January would allow Neil Critchley to regroup his players to attack the second half of the season with a fresh mindset.
But Halkett is relieved the three-week shutdown has been ditched for the first time in four years. He’d rather have the chance to play their way out of the slump than sit idle and let it fester on their minds. The ex-Livingston ace also knows the transfer window, which opens on Wednesday, will offer Critchley a chance to add freshness to his struggling squad.
Halkett said: “The position we’re in, we want to play as many games as we can to get that chance to turn it around quicker. If there was a break and we were still in the same position, you would be mulling over it for a couple of weeks and looking back, whereas you don’t have the chance to do that. So it’s just about getting the head down, working hard.
“If new players come in this January, they’re going to need to hit the ground running. Everyone in the building will help with that. But I think the more games that come, the better chance it is for us to pick up wins.
“The squad that we’ve got just now should be more than good enough. So everyone will be training hard and fighting for their place. But if new bodies come in we’ll welcome them and we’ll do our best to make sure they hit the ground running.”
Hearts trudged off from Thursday’s 2-1 defeat to Hibs – the first time they’d lost a derby at home in five years – to furious scenes from fed-up home punters at Tynecastle. Halkett admits it felt like a new low this season. But he insists there’s not a problem with confidence in the ranks.
He said: “It’s a derby game. You never like losing them, no matter what the position is or where they are. So it’s a right low point in the season but with the fixtures that are coming up we’ve got a chance to go on a run and pick up some more points.
“We need to look forward. I don’t think confidence is a massive issue. We’ve shown that we can bounce back from poor results in the past. Obviously, we want to start building momentum.
“But we’re not giving ourselves that chance by winning a few in a row. We know we have good players and we’re training hard every day. We’ve got to just keep doing what we’re doing and it should turn around.”
The Jambos are two points off Ross County ahead of today’s Dingwall clash. A win could see them leap to ninth while a defeat could also send them back to the bottom.
Halkett – who returned from a 10-week spell out injured this month – said: “Every game at the moment is a massive one for us. We know our position in the table isn’t anywhere near acceptable.
“I’ve been a couple of months out. I just picked up a few wee niggles and managed to get through them but I’m starting to feel better now. I’d like to think the more games you play, the confidence comes back and you go back to doing what I know I can do.
“I’ve been feeling good, so it’s good to be back in the team. But it’s a results business, that’s the most important thing.”