Jake Mulraney ready to take next step after fearing Hearts exit

A slow start at Hearts left Jake Mulraney fearing that his first season at the club could prove to be his last.

Hearts winger Jake Mulraney has turned his fortunes around and believes that his best is yet to come. Picture: SNS

Instead, after helping the side to the Scottish Cup final and impressing in pre-season, the flying winger is celebrating an about turn in fortunes and has kickstarted the latest campaign by signing a new contract that ties him to the Gorgie club until 2022.

“I’m really happy to get it signed and finished,” said the 23-year-old who joined Hearts from Inverness Caledonian Thistle last summer and was used intermittently prior to the new year.

“It is definitely a boost to my confidence and it’s a bit of security for me and my girlfriend [Aoife], who is expecting our baby in two months. It is really important to have that clarity about our future. This feels like home for me now. We are settled and, once you know that, it’s a really nice feeling.”

Urged to believe in himself more and put his assets to more devastating use, he had to wait to become a first-team regular and he admits he struggled with the vocal pressure exerted by a fanbase frustrated by on-field results.

That reached a nadir when his partner was abused in the stand, prompting Mulraney to lash out on social media.

“I got stick for ages when I first arrived – rightly so, I suppose, because I didn’t do the business at all,” he said. “I got what I deserved, albeit it sometimes went a little bit too far.”

It left him doubting his future, he reveals. “I imagined that I’d be out of here! It was a really slow start to my time at Hearts. I knew that I had it in me – but it was a case of getting settled in, getting used to the crowd and the expectations at a club like this. It was all new to me and it took me a while.

“It was a really hard time and was tough on the both of us [Mulraney and Aoife] because I wasn’t really feeling like myself. When football is going badly, it makes things tough at home – especially when it’s just the two of us.

“If I was back home in Dublin, I’d be able to spend some time with my mates, unwind and get away from football – clear my mind. In Edinburgh, I was coming home, doing nothing and then straight back to football the next day. Football becomes your life and that was a hard time in my career.

“I had a chat with the manager and basically asked him straight: ‘What do I need to do to get in the team?’ I did a lot with Foxy [Liam Fox], Jon [Daly] and Austin [MacPhee] to improve myself and get to the level I needed to be to get game time.”

A revitalised player, Mulraney was a key contributor towards the end of the season, using his pace and guile to torment opposition defences but, with the new contract signed, 
he claims that Hearts fans will see an even better version of him on the park.

Weighing in with a wonderful cross for Craig Halkett, to help his side claim a midweek win over Stenhousemuir, he is looking for more of the same against East Fife today as Hearts seek out the win and the goal glut that could take them into the last 16 of the Betfred Cup, hopefully as one of the eight seeded sides.

He added: “I was delighted with that [assist on Wednesday]. Me and Uche [Ikpeazu] had done some stuff the day before in training and it almost paid off because I put one right on his head but he missed. He was going mad over that. But I was delighted to get an assist for Halks’ [Halkett] goal. I might need to start picking him out instead!”

It signals the additional impact he is searching for this season. “I want to add more goals and assists to my game – that’s my focus,” he said. “I feel I’ve improved but there is a lot more I can do. I feel like I’m on to my next goal, the next phase of my development. I still feel like I have a lot to do in terms of earning the right to be here. I feel I have a long way to go but I am in a much better place than I was a few months ago.”

The rapturous response when he came on as a second-half substitute on Wednesday suggests the fans, as well as the manager, recognise the advances made. He smiles at the memory. “Any footballer who says that doesn’t matter is lying!”