The Gorgie team won last season’s Championship in style and many expect them to challenge at the top end of the Premiership. They have been busy in the market over the summer and a host of home players have been replaced with some worldwide imports.
Oshaniwa a Nigerian left-back, Augustyn a Polish defender , Delgado (Juanma) a Spanish striker, and Rossi a Brazilian defender were in Saturday’s winning team at Dens and together with Ozturk from Turkey, Buaben from Ghana, Gomis from Senegal and Osman Sow from Sweden. That left room for the Scottish trio of Alexander, Paterson and Walker in the cosmopolitan mixture that is the current Hearts team.
A 1-0 win on our last visit
They have six points from the opening couple of games with Juanma coming into prominence with his three goals. It’s clear that we will have to be on top form to prevent them winning three in a row.
Ian Baraclough made it clear after our loss to Dundee United that there was no reason to doubt that we would continue to improve. He also said that we may have another midfielder on board in time for this game and if the deal can be completed we may see Leitch rested. Ainsworth is now free of suspension and we can expect him to start, Chalmers will likely move to the bench.
If we aspire to challenge for a finish in the upper half of the table we should not be leaving Tynecastle empty handed. A share of the spoils will keep us in touch, 1-1