BY ALAN TEMPLE – @CCP_Sport
JAMIE WALKER has suggested Hearts paid the price for fielding so many Edinburgh derby novices after the Jambos were battered 3-1 by Hibernian.
Goals from Jason Cummings, Grant Holt and Andrew Shinnie did the damage for the hosts, with Isma Goncalves’ second-half strike providing scant consolation for the furious traveling fans.
Walker, who took the captain’s armband when Perry Kitchen was replaced at the break, candidly admitted they were “outfought” and “outplayed” by the Hibees.
And he believes Hibs – who are now unbeaten in seven derbies – benefited from their experience of the capital cauldron.
Walker said: “We were outfought, we were outplayed. It is sad to say – but it’s the truth and it is not good enough. I’m not sure why that was, maybe they have more boys who know what this game means, like I do.
“Maybe [Hearts’] new boys were just expecting to pop the ball around and in a derby you can’t do that. You need to win your individual battles and I think we failed in all aspects of that.
“Maybe that’s the lesson, not just in games like this, but against Inverness and teams who are battling at the bottom of the table it will be the same. Maybe it’s an eye opener and we need to go again.”
Walker, like head coach Ian Cathro, apologised to the Hearts supporters following the contest, having made a point of acknowledging what was a largely empty away section at full-time.
He added: “For a football club like Hearts I don’t think that was good enough. We need to apologise to the fans and we need to get our heads up and go again.
“We have let everyone down at the club, it is not good enough for a club like Hearts to come here and lose 3-1. Everything went wrong.”
