Dundee’s James Vincent is determined that his first experience of playing at Tynecastle will be a winning one.
The 27-year-old midfielder has yet to play Hearts at their Edinburgh home since moving north from Kidderminster in 2013 to join Inverness.
He has endured a frustrating time since he signed for Paul Hartley’s Dark Blues this summer and has not played since the August 19 draw with Hamilton at Dens because of a knee injury.
However, he has now battled back to full fitness and is raring to go if selected to play against the Jambos this afternoon at Tynecastle.
Vincent said: “I haven’t played there before.
“I’ve only played Hearts once and that was in the semi-final of the cup at Easter Road for Inverness, when Nick Ross got the winning goal.
“But I know they’re a good side. They’ve got some good players.
“We want to go there and get a positive result. I’ve heard all about the atmosphere.
“That’s what you want to sample and play in as a player.
“You know they’re a big club when you hear they’re expanding their stadium.
“I prefer to play in that sort of atmosphere. I want to be involved in big games, like cup finals.
“It should spur us all on and bring out the best in us.
“I think that’s always the case to keep their fans quiet. It’s especially important as their supporters play a big part.
“We don’t want to let them in the game early doors and get the crowd behind them and singing.”
While Vincent would like nothing better than to win at the first time of asking at Tynecastle, he is fully aware that Dundee are in desperate need of three points.
No-one at the club needs reminding that they haven’t won in the league since the impressive opening-day victory against Ross County in Dingwall.
And Vincent simply cannot believe that the victory drought has lasted as long as it has.
He said: “It’s crazy really. Everything we did was fantastic that day up in County.
“Some days, to be fair, there have been elements of bad luck when otherwise we would have walked away with the three points.
“But that’s football for you and you have to put the ball in the back of the net – bottom line.
“However, nobody is too worried about it.
“It’s early days. If you go on a little run, you could find yourself third or fourth in the table.
“We know where we want to be and the gaffer has got a certain way he wants us to play now.
“Everyone knows their job and hopefully that’s us on the up now.”
Vincent admitted his knee injury was an incredibly-frustrating one but now he is fully recovered, he’s just desperate to kick on now and show the Dundee fans exactly what he is capable of.
He said: “The manager has been brilliant with me.
“I had a good pre-season and started the campaign well but then I took a knock on my knee in the Hamilton game.
“It kept me out for about three and a half weeks so it has taken me a while to get back up to speed.
“It was frustrating because my knee swelled up and I had a scan but it seemed to show there was nothing wrong with it.
“So I had to let it settle and for the swelling to go down.
“It is just part and parcel of football. In the long run, I am lucky as you have lads like James McPake out injured for a long time.
“But the gaffer has always kept me in the loop with everything that’s going on. The physio has been great as well and I am feeling sharp again..
“The injury was frustrating but I am looking to really kick on now.
“The more games you play, the better you become for the team and you can show everyone what you are all about.”
