Hamilton centre-back Lucas Tagliapietra is hoping that his inside knowledge on Osman Sow can help him to shut out the powerful Hearts strike-force as his side travel to Tynecastle today.
The Brazilian defender was a teammate of Sow when they both turned out for Moldovan side FC Dacia several years ago, and they even played alongside each other in the Europa League against Elfsborg in 2012.
Both Sow and strike partner Juanma helped themselves to doubles last week as Robbie Neilson’s side ran riot against Partick Thistle, but Tagliapietra is confident that their physical style will play right into his hands on his first visit to Gorgie.
He said: "I played with Sow in Moldova so I knew him and I know he's a good player. He is very powerful, great left foot, a really good player. He can play as a number nine or a winger as well. It will be tough against him.
“I've also played against Juanma before and I prefer playing against those kind of strikers.
"This is my first time away to Hearts. It will be difficult but we have already beaten them and we're looking forward to it. The last game was a great game - both teams have quality.
"The last time we beat them and it was their first defeat of the season. We know we have quality in our group and that gives us confidence. We just have to work hard and win the battles.
"It was a great atmosphere in the game in Hamilton. It's the game I remember the most because we had the mentality and maturity to come back. Even when we were losing we knew we could come back and change the result. It was special for me.
"I don't think they will look for revenge. What happened that game could've happened at any time. It was their first defeat in the league but they know we have quality and we know they do so it should be a good game. The other players have told me about the atmosphere at Tynecastle so I'm looking forward to it.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel