Tappy: I'm here to stay

Callum Tapping insists the thought of leaving Hearts in the summer never once crossed his mind.

The young midfielder claims he owes the club following his first team breakthrough last year and he, along with his teammates, can't wait to get the new season underway.

Speaking at this morning's pre-match press conference at Riccarton, Callum said: "It never came across my mind at all to leave. The club gave me my chance here to play in the first team last season so (staying) is the least you can do, I think.

"The morale has been good. All the boys are just buzzing to play the games and for the season to start. It's going to be a huge challenge for us, it'll be hard, but we're looking forward to it.

"Whatever's happened (off the pitch) has happened. For us, all we can do is play the games and move on. It is a big challenge but all the boys are here for a reason; because they want to be here. We wouldn't be here if we didn't think we could do it.

"Things can only go up from now on. We can take positives from that. We talked about the 15 point penalty on the first day back and we decided to put it behind us, move on and let the football do the talking."

Having started the midweek friendly defeat to Dinamo Bucharest, 'Tappy' is now looking for more game time in this Saturday's match against Dunfermline.

"It's a big game for us," he said. "Obviously it's good that the gate is getting split 50/50, hopefully the fans will give a big turnout like they have previously. The boys are all looking forward to it, it's a big game for us as it's our first game in Scotland since what happened."

Hearts World