Derek McInnes tells Hearts naysayers his bubble is still 'absolutely bubbling' as negativity’s banished
The Hearts boss is refusing to let penalty shoot-out defeat to St Mirren bring him down ahead of return to Premiership action
Derek McInnes insists a defeat Premier Sports Cup defeat to St Mirren hasn’t burst the Hearts bubble.
The Jambos boss was in defiant mood on the back of a penalty shoot-out League Cup exit in Paisley last weekend with a win over Motherwell on Saturday now his priority.
A previous six game winning steak in all competitions ended against the Buddies but McInnes rankled at a suggestion it has dented the mood inside his camp.
He said: ‘My bubble’s not burst. Your bubble might have burst. I don’t know, but my bubble is absolutely bubbling so we’re good.
“We’re disappointed with the result. I’m not going to try and diminish the performance and the disappointment because we set ourselves up to try and be a good cup team this season and we lost to a team who finished above us last year, away from home on penalties.
“We were the better team for 75 minutes, I felt. I’m disappointed but I am totally focused on making sure we continue what’s been a good start.
“We’ve got a lot going for us here and it’s important that we try and maximise what that is and maximising that is trying to keep the positivity within the boys and the support and keep the whole thing moving along. I don’t think you’re ever as good as people think you are when you’re winning games and I don’t think you’re ever as bad when you lose games. We’ve lost narrowly on penalties away from home against a team who finished above us. It’s a disappointment. It’s no disaster and we move on now.
“I’m not going to have this negativity hanging about and we need to be ready to bounce back quickly. We need to have really positive mindsets across the board and move quickly on to the next one.
“I believed we could go all the way but it’s not the time for over-analysing and start sucking my thumb and feeling sorry for ourselves all the time.”
McInnes also revealed a training ground injury to reserve keeper Ryan Fulton will now force him to look at recruiting another stopper with Craig Gordon sidelined as with youngster Liam McFarlane recalled from a loan spell at Alloa as immediate backup to number one Zander Clark.
He said: “Liam is back from Alloa as we’ve recalled him and I think it would be remiss not to have a look whether we can land one that someone we feel can come in..
“Liam coming back settles us down in terms of numbers and options. we’ll just continue to keep abreast of that situation at the minute and see where we’re at as Ryan is out for three to four months with a groin tear and it’s quite a significant tear.”
Hearts host Motherwell as they bid to retain their spot at the top of the table and McInnes has urged his new additions moving up the gears.
He said: “ I’ve said that even when we’re winning games, we’re trying to get certain people up to speed.
“It’s no excuse but there is. There’s that integration for a lot of the foreign lads trying to navigate games, tough games. obviously. the first three games against teams who are out with the League Cup group stages are teams above us in the league two of those away from home.
“I think we’ve shown enough that we’re going to be competitive which pleases me and for us to be so convinced it’s going to take a bit of time but I still think expect us to be competitive.”