IF Eggert Jonsson's eyes are opened any wider this season he'll be suspected of being on class A drugs, so unpredictable have the last seven months of his working life been. Merely a prodigious talent last summer, the teenage Icelander is now a first-team regular with Hearts, hoping to aid the quest for a top-six finish against Falkirk tomorrow. In between, he has ridden the Tynecastle roller-coaster perhaps harder and faster than most due to his youthfulness.
First came the high of early-season notoriety, then a mid- season lurch into despondency as his club endured a winter results crisis. For Jonsson, this was interspersed with full international recognition and was followed by managerial disruption w
hen Stephen Frail replaced the sacked Angel Chervenkov as interim head coach.
All along, the pressure remained unrelenting. Jonsson looks ahead to Falkirk's visiting Gorgie in the knowledge that the responsibility forged upon his still slender shoulders has vastly accelerated his footballing maturity. He emerged from Hearts' winter of discontent strongly and is now completely transfixed on the SPL's upper echelons.
Looking back, the 19-year-old pinpoints that ten-game winless sequence which spanned November, December and January as an invaluable chapter of his footballing education.
In an exclusive interview, he told the Evening News: "We went through a really tough time during that period and I remember being really hurt after every game. It seemed we couldn't buy a win and that was really hard for me as a young boy. Before, when I lost a game, I wasn't under so much pressure to deliver. This season has been different and it's all kind of new to me.
"I just tried to learn from it, I suppose that's all you can do because it's part of football. You can't think about it too much. There comes a point where you need to get over a defeat and prepare for the next game when things don't go your way. It was hard to take but we simply had to keep going. Everyone, players and coaching staff, found it really difficult over Christmas and New Year. Then we changed the manager when Angel (Chervenkov] left and from then I think people can see a big improvement under Stevie Frail. The dressing room is a much happier place now.
"For me, it's been great to come in and play regularly and get more experience this season. I've been involved in most of the games which I've found really encouraging, but obviously results haven't gone our way. From now, we need to keep climbing the table.
"At the end of the season, we want to look back and say we did quite well from January onwards and finished in a decent position. We won't be happy with that but we'd be satisfied with our efforts during the second half of the season."
A top-six finish would attach genuine meaning to the final weeks of Hearts' campaign, and the club's stated aim will become distinctly more visible at tea-time tomorrow if Falkirk have been defeated.
John Hughes' side last savoured victory at Tynecastle 13 years ago but go into the match three points better off than their hosts and harbouring similar top-six intentions.
Hearts dispersed with their winter blues to effect moderate improvement in the league, losing only to Rangers and Celtic since the turn of the year. This hasn't raised expectations significantly but an air of tension around the home dressing room tomorrow would only be natural.
"Obviously it's a very important game but we just need to treat it like a normal day," stressed Jonsson. "It's a massive three points for whichever club manages to get them. We just need to win it.
"Falkirk are three points ahead at the moment. If we beat them, we'd have two games left to get ourselves in the top six. We can't really afford a slip, it's all about winning every game we have left. Without getting ahead of ourselves, if we are to make the top six we have to win tomorrow. After that our games are against Dundee United and Kilmarnock and I think we owe both of them a defeat. We haven't beaten either of them this season, which makes for three massive games for us before the league splits.
"We beat Falkirk 4-2 quite comfortably at Tynecastle last time and we have to look for something similar tomorrow. We're capable of producing it again and, being at home, we can count on extra support from the stands."
Hearts are certain to be minus Christian Nade due to a pelvis problem while Andy Driver's thigh injury has all but ended his season prematurely.
Jonsson will put thoughts of his own contract extension aside hoping to combat Falkirk's principle threat for the afternoon. He said: "Falkirk like to play the ball and if Russell Latapy plays he will drift into space and pick up the ball and then use it well.
"He will probably be my individual battle but we all have to win our battles throughout the team if we are to get three points. That's the only way to do it because Falkirk are a good side.
"I'll try to match Latapy's runs and put him under pressure when he gets the ball. Being tight on someone like him and closing down all the time is the best way to approach it. In that respect, he's not that much different to how you have to handle most players."
Back at the season's inception, Hearts didn't expect their fixtures come monumental-March time to involve a mere quest for the top six. It's a fair guess that the ever-improving Jonsson didn't expect only to be catching his breath now either.
The full article contains 971 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
