East of Scotland: Tynecastle told to raise their game

The two sides meet for a second time in seven days having played out an entertaining 2-2 draw at Saughton Enclosure last weekend.

The students stunned the hosts having fired themselves into a 2-0 lead inside the opening 25 minutes but goals from Mikey Catlin, two minutes before the interval, and Pieyam Khosrowpour’s second-half strike, salvaged a point for the Capital outfit.

“When you go 2-0 down after 25 minutes you’ve got to give the lads credit for getting themselves back into the game,” Vinter explained. “We scored three minutes into the second half to equalise and I felt we would then go on and win it.

“But the whole game really didn’t go the way we wanted it to and we didn’t play anywhere near what we’re capable of. The boys have set themselves great standards so they know they fell below them as they’re an honest bunch.

“We had beaten Stirling 5-1 at the start of the season in the League Cup so they deserve a lot of credit. They took the game to us and I was really impressed with them. But it’s got to be two points dropped and that would be the same for us against any other side in the division.

“The only positive to take from last weekend is we’ve got the chance to rectify that tomorrow but we know we’ll need to be at our best to win. When you get a team twice in quick succession you maybe know a wee bit more about how they play. We’ve trained well this week so hopefully we can take all three points this time around.”

Elsewhere, reigning champions Leith Athletic host current league leaders Heriot-Watt University at Meadowbank 3G. A win for Derek Riddel’s men would take them to within a point of the students with Leith also having played two games fewer. Undefeated Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale welcome Borders side Tweedmouth Rangers to Saughton Enclosure whilst struggling Omiston travel to Recreation Park to play Peebles Rovers.