Oisin McEntee rode the crest of a wave into the Estadio Da Luz last week - only to end up drowning in the biggest thrashing of his career. The Irishman wanted to soak up the best moment of his footballing life against Benfica. But the toughest 90 minutes he's ever encountered left the 25-year-old nursing a bruised ego and Hearts' Europa League hopes all at sea after a 6-1 scudding.
Pride on the line at Tynecastle
McEntee knows their chances of progression in the tournament were sunk by that blitzing in Lisbon. But the Euro journey isn't over yet for Wouter Vrancken and his players who will drop into the Conference League play-off should they fail to pull off a miracle in Gorgie this evening. And for that McEntee is hugely grateful as he looks to continue his own incredible journey in the game.
Two years ago tonight the midfielder was lining up for Walsall in a League Cup clash against Exeter City in front of 2500 at the Bescot Stadium. Last week it was over 60,000 at Benfica. And McEntee admits tonight it's all about trying to restore a bit of pride in front of 20,000 at Tynecastle.
Learning from the best
He said: "Definitely. I don't think I've lost by that in my professional career. It did hurt and there's definitely a lot of pride going into this game. We just want to do our best and just restore that with the fans and with the whole club."
"I spoke to people close to me (before the first leg). Obviously the result didn't show this but I just wanted to go out and enjoy it because it's an amazing opportunity playing against these type of players in these stadiums. I think everyone's football journey is different and it just felt amazing being over there in Portugal playing against some of the best players in the world in a crazy stadium."
"It is surreal. It's what every kid wants when they start their football journey, but you guys know football as well as I do. It's up and down, up and down, so it's nice to play in these type of games because that's what everyone wants to do."
"Was it the toughest night of my career? Yeah, when they're scoring that many goals, definitely. They just have a really, really top level of quality in that group and just everything they do is with perfection. So yeah, it is probably the toughest."
"But you can definitely learn when you're playing against players of that level. Even little things they do, little things the striker does, little things the number 10 does, you definitely learn. You always hear the saying, when you're playing against better players it makes you better. You can just take little things, little moments in the game. We've all spoke about it and it definitely is a big learning curve."
Solidity and confidence
Lesson number one for tonight's return leg against Marco Silva's superstars is simple. Keep it tight. Hearts were wide open at times in the Portuguese heat last week and the Eagles needed no invitation to take advantage. But buoyed by Sunday's 4-0 win over Dundee United at Tynecastle, McEntee is confident some of that damage can be repaired.
He said: "We need to just be a bit more solid out of possession. In all the games so far we've put ourselves in areas to create chances. It's just about having that final pass or having that final goal. Everyone knows the situation we're going into. It's a big deficit."
"But with what happened at the weekend, how well we played, how good the club feels now after a really tough few games and few results, I think it's just about bringing all the things that we've done right on the weekend. There's been really good patterns of play, there's been really good moments. It's just about bringing that feel-good factor into this game and putting on a performance for the fans."
"When everything clicks with this team, good things do happen. You've seen that at the weekend. You have people making runs in behind, we keep the ball but we don't keep it for keeping the ball's sake. Everything's with a purpose and with a name, so I think the more the season goes on, the better we will get. Everyone's getting more used to this style and getting more confidence in each other. It's still so new as a group and new players in, so I think it just takes time."
Versatile role
It's not just a new style of play McEntee has had to get his head round. The midfielder has been deployed as a makeshift central defender in the last two outings to help cover the injury and suspension crisis at the heart of the Jambos backline. He's also been used at wing back and right back since moving to Edinburgh last year. But he said: "I'm ticking them all off!"
"I don't mind it because growing up I would have played there a lot. I'm a lot more comfortable when I'm in the middle of the pitch. It's a lot harder at right-back when you're not that type of player and you haven't done that in a long time. So, I've quite enjoyed it."
"The manager just tells me the things to focus on. It shows that he has confidence in me as well, which gives me confidence. Craig Halkett's been amazing with me since I came to the club too. There's a lot of people injured, so it's just about being a leader and he kind of gives me little pointers with that."
