Locke: Fans were incredible

Gary Locke was full of praise for the Hearts supporters who turned out in their thousands to witness Saturday's 2-1 victory over Dunfermline at East End Park.

Hearts fans packed out the away end, forcing ground staff to open a second stand and delay kick off by ten minutes in order to accommodate a late surge of Maroon support, much to the delight of the gaffer.

"There's not many pre-season friendlies where you get held up for ten minutes to let the crowd in. I can't speak highly enough of our supporters and what they've done for us over the last two season," Locke said.

"The support over the last few years has been absolutely incredible and with that backing every game this season hopefully we can respond to that and do quite well," he continued.

A Brad McKay header and a Jamie Hamill penalty put the Jambos 2-0 up inside 20 minutes, and although Dunfermline responded in the second half, Locke was still pleased with his side's performance.

"I thought we played really well in the first half. In the second half we weren't as sharp, but that's part of pre-season. We made some changes, which disrupts momentum, but all in all it's a great work out and it's good to get one over the gaffer!" Locke said.

He also expressed his relief that the club was in a position to reject offers for midfielder Jason Holt last week.

"Holt is certainly not a player I want to lose as he will no doubt be very influential over the course of the season," said Locke.

Hearts World