Alan Forrest believes Hearts can relaunch top-three bid with Ross County win

Alan Forrest believes a much-needed win against Ross County on Saturday could steer Hearts back on course for a top-three finish in the Premiership.

After taking over last week following the departure of Robbie Neilson and his assistant Lee McCulloch in the wake of five successive defeats, interim boss Steven Naismith could not reverse the trend as the Jambos lost 1-0 to Edinburgh rivals Hibernian at Easter Road.

The Gorgie outfit have slipped back to fourth place, five points behind Aberdeen but Hearts winger Forrest believes three points against struggling Staggies may signal the start of a change in fortunes for the Edinburgh side.

The former Livingston player said: “It is a hard one for us to take just now, obviously we are in a sticky situation, the results haven’t been going for us.

“We have the new manager in, training has been good, we are just not getting the rub of the green with results so we need to stick together.

“It is hard to put your finger on. We had a good run when we were picking up results, it has turned lately.

“A lot of the teams in the league have went through a sticky patch, I know Aberdeen did before they got a new manager. Maybe it is just our time at the moment.

“The important thing is to stick together and get through. We have worked hard in training this week and we hope it can turn for us.

“It will not be an easy game but it is one where, if we can get the fans behind us, we can hopefully put on a show for them and turn it around.

“If we win on Saturday and results don’t go well for other teams, it can change. We need that one win and I think we can go on a run again.

“We have been working all week on how they will play and we know it won’t be easy. But we need to focus on us and what we bring to them because they should be fearing what we bring. I think it is all about us.”