HEARTS supporters have a new cult hero in the shape, and it’s some shape, of Uche Ikpeazu.
It would not be the greatest surprise if the Englishman was to take his place alongside icons of the past Stephane Adam and Rudi Skacel in terms of scoring in and winning a Scottish Cup final for the Tynecastle club now he’s fit and finding the back of the net.
Ikpeazu is a monster of a centre-forward. He’s touching six foot four, has the physique of a heavyweight boxer in their prime and is a more than a decent footballer. It’s a pretty good package.
The 24-year-old is also a nice guy and funny with it. When a rather brave, or perhaps foolish is a better word, hack ribbed the big fellah about his missed penalty against Partick Thistle in Tuesday's cup replay, Ikpeazu insisted he was happy to take the next one.
“I’m not arguing with you,” said the bold inquisitor.
“I know,” was the stern reply from this gentle giant.
Ikpeazu has missed a chunk of this season through injury but he’s getting close to being 100 per cent and his well taken goal against Thistle was his first since August. The relief on his face was clear as he ran to the touchline to hug Craig Levein.
A stop-start season is just about to get going for this fairly unique player who has a semi-final against Inverness at Hampden, managed by John Robertson, the prince of Hearts strikers, to overcome next and then, he hopes, a cup final in his first season in Scotland.
Ikpeazu said: “As a striker, I love scoring goals. I’ve scored goals throughout my career. Not scoring has been frustrating although I feel I’ve been getting back to my best over the last few games. It’s good to get on the scoresheet and hopefully I can go on a run.
“The gaffer, coaching staff and all the physios have been brilliant to me and always let me know they believe in me even when I haven’t been scoring goals. Scoring is a habit. I’ve been out for long so it was good to hit the net again. It was a relief.
“I like the pressure. I put pressure on myself. I know I can dominate games and I should be dominating games. When I’m not playing well I’m really disappointed in myself. I know that, with my attributes and ability, I should. I feel I’m playing well again. I don’t mind the pressure he puts on me because it just shows he appreciates me and I’m a key player for the team. That’s great.
“I’m not relaxed. I need to score more, I need to work harder, I need to do better. That’s just my mentality.”
There were a couple of times on Tuesday, a horrible night for football, when Ikpeazu took a heavy touch or a pass didn’t find its target. All perfectly understandable considering the conditions.
But those few mistakes were treated as if he’d missed an open goal, such are the standards of the man.
Ikpeazu said: “I’m very ambitious and I know the ability I’ve got. When I’m not controlling the ball or protecting the ball, that’s putting more pressure on my team. They rely on me to hold up the ball and I rely on myself to hold it up.
“When I do make mistakes I get frustrated because I know I can do better. I’ll just keep working hard. I know hard work pays off.
“The manager just tells me how it is all the time. When I’m not doing well, he’ll tell me. When I’m doing well, he’ll tell me. He expects big things from me and he has put a lot of faith in me. I have to repay him.”
Ikpeazu is repaying Levein right now. Well, aside from missing the second penalty awarded to Hearts against Partick Thistle, a poor effort made even worse by the fact Sean Clare had scored from the spot with great accuracy in the first-half.
Asked if he was thinking more about his goal or the miss, he admitted: "A bit of both to be fair. I want to score goals. The penalty was an opportunity for me to score. I missed and it put my team under pressure.
"It was bittersweet because we're through to the semis. I'm just going to work hard on the training ground and rectify that.
"Will I take the next one if I win the foul? We'll see. It wasn't great but I've scored penalties and scored good ones. "
And who is going to argue with him?
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