Craig Halkett believes Hearts can draw on the experiences of a contingent of Scottish Cup-winning heroes already at the club as they bid to topple city rivals Hibernian in Saturday’s Hampden semi-final.
Manager Robbie Neilson and 39-year-old goalkeeper Craig Gordon were both part of the Jambos side that defeated Hibs in the semi on their way to winning the trophy back in 2006, while club ambassador and diehard supporter Gary Locke was club captain when the Tynecastle side triumphed in 1998.
Halkett believes having such iconic figures steeped in Hearts’ history can help when it comes to grasping the magnitude of this weekend’s match.
“You hear about the cup wins when you sign for the club,” said the defender.
“There are obviously a lot of Hearts fans that work within the club and some that are still playing.
“When you hear their stories it’s great, and it’s something you want to be a part of. You want to have those stories for yourself to talk about in the future, and that’s something we can work towards by winning on Saturday.
“It’s massive having those guys around the club. You speak to them one-on-one or in groups and they talk about their cup wins and previous experiences they’ve had playing for the club.
“I think it always helps, especially for the boys coming from England or the foreign boys, to get a feel for the club and what it really means to the fans.
“Lockey’s always about the place throughout the season and he lets the ones who maybe don’t know as much about Hearts know what it means to play for the club. There will be a few stories told this week, and it’s something we’ll enjoy.”
Hearts are unbeaten in the last five Edinburgh derbies and are 19 points clear of their rivals in the cinch Premiership after defeating Hibs 3-1 at Tynecastle last weekend. Halkett knows that all of that will count for little in the eyes of supporters if his side lose this weekend.
“It’s massive to be the top team in the city, especially for the fans,” he said.
“They want the bragging rights. From our point of view, we know we’re Hearts and we’re a big club and we believe at the moment we’re the better team in the city.
“We just need to keep going about our business and putting in performances and getting results to back that up. Saturday was just one of two halves, if you like, of the two back-to-back games and we want to go again on Saturday and finish it off.”
