Hearts forward Josh Ginnelly has called for his teammates to bounce back after a disappointing defeat at Motherwell last weekend.
It was a dismal afternoon for Hearts in Lanarkshire. The Steelmen bossed the match for 90 minutes, as Hearts struggled to implement their own style of play that has seen them lose only once prior to last weekend.
Hearts have enjoyed much success at Tynecastle this season and are yet to lose at home, so they will go into Saturday’s match fully expecting to pick up all three points.
“This is a chance for us to bounce back from last week,” said Ginnelly, speaking at a press conference to promote the new 2021/22 SPFL Sticker Collection.
“We went through the Motherwell match to see what we could do better and try to rectify it against St Mirren.We tried to play, and I think we didn’t reach our best and we weren’t at it. That game is gone now, and we can’t dwell on it, we have to move on.
“Any team that beats us this season it is like a massive achievement for them. The way they celebrated is a compliment to us and now we have to try and win this match.
“Whenever we lose a game, instantly people seem to think that we are off form. We will have plenty of disappointing days, but that’s just the way football is. We just have to stay with it, keep backing each other and I am sure we will be fine.
“I think sometimes there will be days when we can’t play the football we want to play. When that happens you have to adapt quickly to how the game is going, and we didn’t do that well enough against Motherwell.
“St Mirren might be a similar game, so we need to put our game onto them early doors. I think we have players who can play nice football but also roll their sleeves up.
“When Boycey came on it was a lot better against Motherwell and he suited that game. Myself, Ben and Barrie couldn’t really get into the game as they had giants at the back.
“We played into their hands, and we can’t let that happen again. It’s a credit to us I suppose teams try to stop us playing our game. Saturday was a learning curve for us, and we know teams know how good we can be.We have to enforce our plan onto teams before they do it to us.”
Liam Boyce was back in the matchday squad last weekend and came off the bench for the final 30 minutes but is expected to be fit enough to start against St Mirren and Ginnelly admits the impact the Northern Irishman has on the team can’t be underestimated.
“Boycey is a massive player for us. I think with him in the team, we have a focal point up front. If the conditions are going against us we can use them to hold the ball up and bring us into play. Having him back will frighten teams because he has got everything.”
Ginnelly impressed in the last home game against Dundee United, where he played in the middle of a front three, the winger is content with his performances, but still believes there’s a lot more to come.
“To be honest I think I could do a lot more. I’m not that type of player to start doubting myself, I know what I can do, and it will come. I have to keep working hard in training, stay fit.
“In the last three or four games I’ve had three or four goal involvements, assist or goals or whatever. I’m not putting any pressure on myself, if we keep playing the way we do it will come out.”
St Mirren are without a win in five games and are expected to be without defender Conor McCarthy after he picked up an injury during the draw with Livingston. Nevertheless, Ginnelly believes the Buddies are a good side, but believes the home advantage will be a huge benefit to Hearts.
“They’re a decent side and have some decent players,” said Ginnelly.
“It will probably be similar style to Motherwell but with it being at home we have an advantage with the crowd, and we will go out there looking to implement our game.
“We want to repay the fans and ourselves. The Motherwell game was not a good picture of ourselves, and we want to set that right.”
Josh Ginnelly helped launch the new 2021/22 SPFL Sticker Collection sponsored by Topps.
