The former Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Sean Clare has admitted he turned to a sports psychologist after a difficult start to the new campaign with Hearts.
Clare, who rejected a new contract with Wednesday before joining Hearts in 2018, was at fault for two of Motherwell’s goals in a 3-2 defeat for his side last month and was booed by some Jambos fans when subbed against Hibernian the following week.
The 23-year-old was subsequently taken out of the team by his manager Craig Levein, before being restored to the starting eleven against Rangers on Sunday.
It was from Clare’s shot – which Allan McGregor parried into the path of Ryo Meshino – that Hearts scored the opening goal in a 1-1 draw with Steven Gerrard’s side.
And in a lengthy and candid interview with the Edinburgh Evening News afterwards, the former Nike Academy player suggested that a bit of off-field work was responsible for his improvement in fortunes.
“I’ve been working on my mindset recently because football’s a tough game,” he said. “I’ve been meeting John (Johnstone, a football mindset coach based in the Scottish capital) and it’s been really helpful. He helps a lot with putting things in perspective. You can sometimes focus on things too much and it can affect your next game. In football, everyone’s going to have an opinion so the important thing is not letting them affect you and trying to put in the best performance you can every single week.”
The former Sheffield Wednesday trio of James Tavernier (Rangers), Glenn Whelan and Steven MacLean (both Hearts) also featured at Tynecastle.