Hearts 1-0 Rangers final word: Loic Damour and Clevid Dikamona are unlikely cup heroes and Daniel Stendel outlines plan for Hibs clash

Aside from the vivid contrast of Hearts’ euphoria against a crestfallen Rangers manager, Tynecastle Park witnessed the rebirth of a forgotten French midfielder on Saturday. The Scottish Cup quarter-final was perhaps Loic Damour’s finest display in maroon. It was also his first appearance for nine weeks.

Six months into a four-year deal, he has fought to revive his Hearts career after manager Daniel Stendel told him game-time would be limited. His contribution against Rangers involved tenacious tackling, boundless energy and a desire which epitomised his return from the squad’s periphery.

Damour was not alone. Winger Lewis Moore reclaimed a starting berth and worked tirelessly defending and attacking. He also seized on a loose ball to tee up Oliver Bozanic for the decisive goal in the 1-0 victory. Bozanic himself was outstanding in only his second start of 2020, whilst Clevid Dikamona replaced the injured John Souttar and belied the fact he is Stendel’s third-choice centre-back.

It was a night for recoveries. Whilst the Rangers manager Steven Gerrard bemoaned his team’s lack of desire inside a wet and chilly Tynecastle, Hearts had hunger in spadeloads. None more so than Damour. “It was a good reaction, especially from Loic,” Stendel told the Evening News.

“He was not in the squad for a long time but then he played like that. After the winter break, he never gave up. I told him the chance to play was not so high but he tried to train well and he played well in the reserves. That was the reason he got the chance against Rangers.

“After John got a bad injury, we needed to bring on a substitute. Clevid made a good team in defence with Craig Halkett and, on the other side, with Aaron Hickey. He had a big impact and was a key player for us.”

Moore was substituted on 89 minutes and walked off to an emotional and affectionate hug from Stendel on the edge of the Hearts technical area. “We knew before the game that we need players with a lot of heart [the manager taps his chest] and a lot of passion. Lewis is a player like this and his impact was good,” said Stendel.

“He fought hard and he did a lot of things for the team, in possession and out of possession. I think it was not an accident that he won the ball before he created the goal. I am very happy with him and his performance.”

Stendel is pragmatic enough to acknowledge Saturday’s effort cannot be a one-off if Hearts are to succeed with their primary ambition - avoiding relegation. They travel across Edinburgh to visit rivals Hibs on Tuesday night and desperately need points as the Premiership’s bottom club.

Defensive coaching has been a heavy feature of training sessions at Riccarton in the last two weeks. Keeping Rangers out offered evidence that it is paying dividends. Stendel is demanding another rigid display from his back line at Easter Road.

“We all know Tuesday is a different game,” he explained. “In the league we have a different position to what I expected. What I want us to do on Tuesday is to play so concentrated in the defence. This is the point we missed in the last games we did not win. We conceded too many goals.

“We trained very hard to improve on this and it was a good sign for the players, and also for me, that we can get a clean sheet against Rangers. They have a lot of quality players so this was a positive sign.”

Damour, Moore, Bozanic and Dikamona all contributed to Saturday’s clean sheet in various ways. Their respective roles in helping Hearts into the Scottish Cup semi-finals also puts them in definite contention to face Hibs. Stendel has some key decisions to make ahead of his first trip to Leith.