It has taken the best part of three years but Craig Halkett finally feels like he’s playing for the Hearts he visualised when joining from Livingston.
Third-place finishes, the prospect of European group stage football and a blockbuster Scottish Cup semi-final against Hibs just two days away.
This is what Halkett signed up for, not his first two years in Gorgie that were characterised by misfortune and mishaps.
A wretched demotion after Covid struck and a season playing in front of no fans in the second tier.
An agonising Scottish Cup Final defeat to Celtic on spot-kicks and an excruciating exit to Highland League side Brora Rangers in the second round.
Halkett could’ve been forgiven for thinking he’d made the wrong choice swapping the Tony Macaroni Arena for Tynecastle when signing a pre-contract three years ago this month.
But hard times make strong characters and the adversities lit a fire in Halkett’s belly to play his part in Hearts ’ resurrection.
That it’s happened in the space of 13 months since that woeful night in Brora might leave the 26-year-old pinching himself.
But he’s determined to take the season of his dreams to another level come Saturday lunchtime when the Jambos face their arch rivals with the prize of a return to the National Stadium next month on offer.
He said: “It has been a massive change. I wouldn’t say I’d have been shocked but if you had told me 13 months ago we would
be in this position, I probably wouldn’t have believed you.
“It’s been good. This Hearts that I am at just now, where we are and all the excitement around the club right now, is what I thought I was signing for.
“Going back two years when we got demoted, I had that extra bit of fire in my belly to make sure we got straight back up.
“When I signed for Hearts, the last thing I thought I would be doing was playing in the Championship.
“So it was all about going away in the summer and getting my head down, working hard and getting back into the Premiership.
“From the season I signed, we knew it wasn’t good enough. So last summer was about working as hard as possible to get into the best possible shape I could to give myself the best possible chance of being successful.”
Part one of that mission has been achieved with third spot in the Premiership – and European football – clinched with five games to spare.
Beating Hibs wouldn’t just secure a spot in the showpiece, it would cement a Europa League play-off place and, at the very least, guaranteed Conference League group stage football.
All of that is a massive deal financially, albeit Halkett knows simply beating Shaun Maloney’s side to strengthen the Jambos’ grip on capital bragging rights after last Saturday’s derby win at Tynecastle is even bigger.
He said: “Finishing third in the league was massive. Securing European football for the club was big, financially as well.
“But there’s that added incentive this weekend that it would be group stage football next season if we manage to get through. That would be massive for the club.
“But, first and foremost, it’s a derby and the biggest incentive the boys in the changing room need is to get one over your rivals.
“It’s important we won at the weekend when it’s back-to-back derbies. You want to have momentum going into every game. There’s obviously going to be some psychological edge. Momentum is massive in football. Coming off the back of a win rather than a defeat, you’re going to be that wee bit more confident.
“Thankfully it’s us sitting with the confidence at the moment and hopefully we take that into the game.”
One fond memory Halkett has from his first two years at the club was winning this fixture in October 2020 to set up that showdown with Celtic.
A Liam Boyce penalty in extra time separated the capital rivals after Kevin Nisbet had missed his own attempt for Hibs.
But Hearts’ luck from the spot ran out come December after a 3-3 thriller with the Hoops.
Halkett said: “The 2020 semi-final was tight. They are fierce games against your rivals and Saturday will be the same.
“You want a fast start and the first goal. We were disappointed going a goal down at the weekend but we managed to come back and win.
“This week will be about us starting as fast as we can.
“I’ve been to a couple of Hampden games with this club but they were during the Covid pandemic and no fans were there.
“This weekend the support will be massive. We have sold out the allocation and more. And people are still buying tickets. We want to repay that faith.
“It still hurts losing the Scottish Cup to Celtic on penalties. A few of us who were involved still have that in the back of our heads. We need to reach the final and that’s about winning on Saturday.”
Hearts’ success this season has been mirrored by Halkett’s personal performances, which have elevated him into the
Scotland set-up.
He repaid the club for the part they played by signing a new two-and-a-half-year deal just after the turn of the year.
And he added: “It’s been one of my best seasons to date, on and off the pitch.
“Getting international recognition was massive for me.
“It’s something I’ve been wanting to do since I started playing football.
“It’s come in tandem with the club’s success this season, so it’s been a great season all round.
“But we have still got a couple of really important weeks to make it a great season.”
