Scottish Football News

Heart of Midlothian v Raith Rovers

25th January 2017

262

BBC coverage

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Winger Sam Nicholson could return to the Hearts squad for the first time in three months for Wednesday’s Scottish Cup replay against Raith Rovers.

Nicholson underwent knee surgery in October, and could take a place on the bench for the fourth-round Tynecastle decider .

Arnaud Djoum and Faycal Rherras remain on duty at the African Cup of Nations.

Raith boss Gary Locke has no fresh injury concerns following the 1-1 draw ^[1] at Stark’s Park on Sunday.

The victor will face a home tie with cup holders Hibernian in the fifth round.

Hearts have won just once in the six games since Ian Cathro succeeded Robbie Neilson ^[2] as head coach last month.

Rovers are also enduring a poorer run of form, having not won since late October – a run of 10 games without victory – and only scored four goals in that time.

Hearts head coach Ian Cathro:

“We need to win the game. How much? We need to win. But if you asked me before any game, I’d say the same thing. We’ve got to focus on the game, focus on the football, focus on us against the opponent and try and do the things we think will lead to us winning the game.

“You can’t become overly-obsessed – it’s a game of football, we’re going to go and win it. That’s it.

“I feel a frustration just now which is primarily for the fans, but I know where we’re going, I know our work, I know the players, I know the things are going to happen. So it’s easier for us on the inside to deal with those (disappointments).

“Every time we don’t fully show the fans where this is going, that can feed into them and say, come with us, this is going to be a bit of a ride, it hurts. I feel it when we don’t give them that.”

Raith Rovers manager Gary Locke:

“I’m well aware of how (the atmosphere) can be at Tynecastle – I’ve been on the end of it a few times. It’s a great place to play when things are going for you but when things are not going for you it can be difficult.

“We’ve got to go with the same belief we had on Sunday and if we do that we’ll have a chance of winning.”