Frankie Kent Q&A: 'Harsh' words and Hearts' Celtic challenge

The centre-back addressed the harsh words after the loss to Aberdeen, Steven Naismith's bullied criticism and the challenge the team will face from the Scottish champions.

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Harsh words said after last weekend?

Yes - and straight after the game as well. We knew it wasn't good enough, especially in the second half. So there's things that we've touched on throughout the week, things we need to get back to and better at. Hopefully we can try and start that against Celtic.

No player likes to hear they have been bullied?

It is not nice, obviously it hurts any players' ego being told that by your manager, but it's one of those things you have to bounce back from it, react to it, and prove that's not the case and try to react to that in the next game.

Was it fair criticism?

Probably, especially that second half, yeah. It was difficult to take. We knew we didn't play well in the second half. There were things that we needed to sort out on the pitch but it just wasn't seeming to happen. I'm not saying it was good enough, but it's behind us now. We can't rest on it, we need to react to that and there's no harder game than away at Celtic but a good opportunity to get back to it.

Have you been to Parkhead before? Are these the occasions which brought you to Hearts?

It will be my first time and these are 100 per cent the occasions that brought me to Hearts. I said when I first signed that these are the games you want to be involved in, and enjoy the experience. That's only going to come by playing well and having a good team performance.

Aberdeen went a bit more direct against you last weekend, are you expecting a different type of challenge from Celtic?

I think everyone knows how Celtic play. We played them once before and we weren't good enough at home. It didn't go as well as what we wanted it to, we didn't really show up. We want to put in a better performance.

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Has there been much talk amongst the squad about losing points from winning positions and what went wrong?

Not really. I don’t think we’ve sat down and asked why we’ve lost goals or points once we’ve gone ahead. It’s just performance in terms of individuals and as a team and managing the game. It’s been the small details we need to get better at, last week it was second balls and the fight, which isn’t nice, obviously. No-one wants to lose a game in that way. In previous games it’s been little details that have let us down, but that’s all behind us now, we just need to produce a positive reaction.

Did you come up against Matt O’Reilly when playing down south?

I played against him at MK Dons, but I only realised that when he signed for Celtic. He’s gone on to do really well, so fair play to him.

Are you aware of the team's league record at Celtic Park?

Nothing has been said to me, but I imagine that you’re asking because it’s not good. There’s always a chance, I think you’ve seen that in the last couple of games. They’ve drawn a couple, lost a couple, whatever it has been. They’re going to be favourites because of the team they are but we’ll go into it confident with our game plan and a good mindset.

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Do you take confidence from teams picking up points against Celtic?

I just think everyone is the same, we’re all football players and everyone can have tough games and good games. Hopefully we’ll have a good game and if they have a good game then hopefully it will be a good game overall. We’re just going to try and put our stamp on it. We have our way of trying to play and we’ll do that the best we can.

How important is it for Hearts to go there and play their own game?

Yeah, I think so. We touched on things this week and what we’re trying to do. Listen, we know they’re a good team and they have the threats they have. We have to be aware of that but if we don’t try and stick to what we’re good at, the things we try and do, and how we try and play it goes away from the bigger picture in terms of that. Hopefully we’ll go there and put in a good performance and get a positive result.