My advice to Hearts players for Zurich clash and the XI that can reach Europa League group stage - Ryan Stevenson
I was back at Tynecastle on Monday evening for a mental health talk with some supporters.
On the way out of the Wheatfield Stand - it must have been 8.30pm - I couldn’t resist nipping onto the pitch for a wee look at my old place of work. Standing there for just five minutes got me all misty-eyed at the memories. The big games, the goals, the drama, the electric atmosphere.
The ground was completely empty and in relative darkness but those memories were loud and clear. The hat-trick in my last ever game for Hearts against Kilmarnock, derby wins over Hibs and beating them the day they came to relegate us, the night we played Tottenham in the Europa League. I was standing there thinking ‘what I would give to be back here playing’. Especially on a week like this, so I’ve one piece of advice for every Hearts player before tomorrow’s tumultuous Euro tie with Zurich even kicks off.
When you’re lining up in the tunnel and hear that wall of noise, embrace absolutely every second of the moment and lock it away somewhere safe for the day when you’re no longer involved. Savour how lucky you are to play for this massive club in front of one of the best supports in the land. This is the dream. I remember standing in the tunnel on these occasions thinking this is what I dreamed of as a wee boy running about the streets in Ayrshire.
Revel in the atmosphere, feel it and use it so that when the whistle blows they can go and play. Sometimes players get so wound up and are scared to make a mistake that they play within themselves.
On occasions like this especially the biggest thing is just go and enjoy yourself. You’re playing in Europe and this is the pinnacle.
The roof will come off Tynecastle at 7.59pm, mark my words. Any opposition