With Hearts getting a very good result against an albeit poor Dundee side, how do you think/want us to line up in the Semi Final?


For me Hearts looked good and had a really good balance to their squad. New additions of Halliday, Kingsley, Ginnely, Roberts and Gordon all look good aswell as having Haring back fit.


I’d imagine against us they’ll play something similar to;


..........................Gordon................


Smith.........Halkett.....Popescu....Kingsley....


...................Haring......Halliday/Irving...


Ginnelly...........Walker/Naismith........Roberts


............................Boyce......




For me it’s a huge call for Jack Ross, does he stick with the 442/352 we’ve been playing this season or will he want more of a hold on the game on a bigger pitch and play 451/433/4231 or however you interpret it.


A 352 for me is a good formation however it leaves only Doig or Wright who could play that position which would more than likely result in Jamie Murphy missing out - for me he needs to start so we need to find a way of fitting him in the team. 352 however does allow us to have Doidge, Nisbet, Boyle, Allan/Mallan/Magennis in the team along with Newell and Gogic if all fit. The back 3 picks itself.


A 442 again has been very good for us this season and manages to accommodate Murphy, Boyle, Doidge and Nisbet. The only downside would be the size of the pitch and the fear hearts may dominate us in there. On the flip side with our attackers it could cause them a lot of problems as I don’t think they’re too clever defensively.


Or we try a 451/433/4231 which is something we’ve not played this season and would mean picking one out of Doidge and Nisbet up top. It would however mean we can have Gogic, Newell and Magennis competing in the midfield plus Boyle, Murphy and Nisbet/Doidge up top.


How do we see us setting up? Personally I think Ross will stay true to himself and have faith in the team and go for:


.....................Marciano..............


McGinn....Porteous....Hanlon......Doig/Stevenson....


Boyle.........Gogic.......Newell/Magennis....Murphy....


................Doidge.....Nisbet.......


Thoughts?