Hearts have had a tough start to the Premiership season, but now they must capitalise on the promising fixture arrangement that means three of their next five league matches are at Tynecastle.
Trips to Aberdeen and Celtic have not made things easy for the Jambos, who are on one point after three games. They’ve not covered themselves in glory early on, but their next run of games give them a chance to do so.
Tynecastle will play host to three of their next five league matches and the onus is on them to deliver.
A favorable run
Some Hearts fans have called for Levein’s head and rightly so. The past two seasons haven’t been good enough and their start to this campaign has been far from convincing.
He might be able to buy himself some time with the forthcoming matches. Their next five games will be home matches against Hamilton, Kilmarnock and Motherwell, with away trips to Hibs and St Mirren.
Every single one of these fixtures is winnable. That’s not to say it’ll be easy though, as their Ross County performance displayed key weaknesses like a lack of cutting edge in attack. If the Jambos show up, they should have too much for their opponents though.
Fixture arrangement means Hearts should secure at least 13/15 points
They have to gain at least 13 points from these fixtures. Wins at home against two sides who finished in the bottom six last term is a must, plus Killie are joint-bottom right now.
St Mirren have started well, with promising performances against Aberdeen, Hibs and Rangers. They’ll provide a stern test, but Hearts have more quality than them on their day.
Hibs boss Paul Heckingbottom is under a bit of pressure from some fans right now. A draw would be a decent result in this match, but that will likely not please fans. They’ll want all three in a time where their bitter rivals are under pressure.
13/15 points would be brilliant. It’s not unrealistic either, as Hearts have a better squad than the likes of Motherwell and Kilmarnock.
That’s not to say they don’t come with pitfalls though. If they drop points at home to say Accies, or lose to a weak Hibs side, the ‘Levein out’ brigade will go to a whole new level.
Levein can’t afford any major slip-ups in these next five games. They could define his season, and his future as Hearts manager.