Kye Rowles has opened up on the internal Hearts arguments on the pitch during their Conference League away day triumph over Dinamo Minsk.
It’s been a horror season so far for the Jambos but they finally put an end to their winless run by picking up a huge three points on the road with Yan Dhanda firing home seconds before the end of four added minutes at the end of the match. The capital club are on the hunt for a new boss after sacking Steven Naismith with Liam Fox in charge on an interim basis while club bosses go through the process of finding the next man for the top gig.
It was a closed-door occasion in Azerbaijan with words being exchanged by the players with the pressure building after an extended run without a win. That was finally ended with perfect Aberdeen – six for six in the Premiership – next up at Pittodrie on Sunday.
Speaking to the Edinburgh News, Rowles admitted the Hearts players were feeling the heat, stating: “You’d probably be lying if you said ‘no’. Each game, you are thinking: ‘It’s got to happen. It’s got to happen.’ Then you almost start trying too hard. It doesn’t go right, you start getting angry and frustrated. There was a lot of frustration on Thursday night and you probably heard it. The ground was quieter and a lot of the boys were getting into each other.
“It’s a good thing. We were fairly angry with each other out on the pitch because we know how good we can be. We want to be better and strive to win more games. You would have heard it pretty clear. We all hash it out inside at half-time and after the game we are all best mates again. That’s how it’s got to be. You’ve got to hold each other accountable on the pitch and make sure you give it your best for the team.”
Rowles has no issues with the players looking to each other to raise the standards and performance levels. He is delighted to get a first win of the campaign and wants to now push on and get the season up and running after the ‘relief’ of getting over the line against Minsk.
He added: “I think, if they don’t and they just let it slide, it’s almost like they don’t care about you; they’ve given up on you. We’ve done it in all the other games but you probably hear it clearer when there’s nobody in the stadium, like Thursday. We have to hold each other accountable. Things haven’t been going our way. It’s good to get the first win of the season.
“It’s better late than never. We picked a good night to do it. We had a good performance last Saturday [against Ross County], didn’t get the win but didn’t give up and got that late equaliser. On Thursday, we were in the game to get a late winner. The boys were buzzing. We knew it took us a long time to get there but it’s relief because the monkey is off the back now.”