The Edinburgh derby can be an assault on the senses.
The latest one certainly gave Pat Fenlon an ear bashing, while there will likely have been a few scorch marks around those of Jamie MacDonald, too. The Hearts' goalkeeper's lugs would have been burning following his side's win in Wednesday's Scottish League Cup quarter-final as his performance has since invited effusive praise and speculation about a call-up to the Scotland squad next week.
The more succinct compliments paid to the 27-year-old's display at Easter Road included the suggestion that he had won the cup tie single-handedly. This would be unfair on MacDonald. He used both of them, turning a number of shots past his posts and one bludgeoned effort from Scott Robertson on to the crossbar.
It was that save, in particular, that Gary Locke recalled yesterday as he pressed his goalkeeper's credentials to be selected by Gordon Strachan for friendlies against the United States and Norway later this month. With David Marshall, Matt Gilks and Cammy Bell already ahead of MacDonald in the pecking order it would seem unlikely that he will be drafted for national service, although that should not serve to diminish the impression which the Hearts man is making this season.
The Tynecastle side are laden with financial problems and have not yet elevated themselves to zero points in the SPFL Premiership, but the form of MacDonald has at least allowed them a sense of renewed purpose ahead of a return to league duty at home to St Johnstone this afternoon. It also gave Locke an opportunity to get through a media conference without having to refer to the club's dire financial position.
"Jamie's save [against Robertson] was sensational and he has been fantastic this season," said the Hearts manager. "I think he's good enough for Scotland. I'm not going to pick anyone else's team but I'm sure Gordon's aware of how he's playing at the moment. Scotland have got fantastic goalkeepers - there's no doubt about that - but I'm pretty sure the way Jamie's playing, he's pushing for a place."
Locke later confirmed that Ryan Stevenson is also pushing for a place today, which had not been certain after the midfielder was carried off on a stretcher during a defeat by Kilmarnock last weekend. Concerns of a serious knee injury felt as ill-timed for Hearts as a lunging tackle from James McPake - Callum Paterson is also available to face St Johnstone - given that he is a rare source of experience amid a young and vulnerable Hearts team.
"Certainly in our predicament, you need boys like Ryan that are prepared to give everything every week," Locke added. "It's great because the young boys see that level of effort and commitment and it rubs off on them. He's a great lad as well and is really infectious with all the younger ones.
"He's always encouraging them and scoring goals against Hibs will always help endear him to the Hearts fans. His effort and commitment was there for all to see the other night. You've got a better chance of winning with players like Ryan playing."
St Johnstone should be aware of his presence at Tynecastle, then, but the Perth side will not be intimidated after reaching the semi-finals of the League Cup themselves. That needed a bit of extra effort away to Morton but it has left Chris Millar with a bit of a spring in his step ahead of the trip to Edinburgh.
"We want to kick on now to cement our top six place," said the midfielder. "They will be buoyant, like us, and they always have a fantastic crowd at Tynecastle. They have been struggling, with a young side and injuries, but we have just got to look after ourselves and our confidence will be massive after Wednesday."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article