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Daniel Stendel eyeing widespread Scottish Premiership relegation battle

Hearts have been battling with Hamilton to avoid the drop but both teams won in midweek.

Daniel Stendel hopes to turn Hearts' two-way relegation fight with Hamilton into a wider battle for survival.

The Jambos clambered off the Ladbrokes Premiership's bottom spot on Tuesday night with victory in the Edinburgh derby at Easter Road – only to be hurled back into the basement 24 hours later when Accies shocked Rangers at Ibrox.

Stendel expects the battle at the bottom to go down to the wire – but the German does not want to spend the last 10 games of the season worrying only about how Brian Rice's side are getting on.

And he believes if his side can continue their winning run, it could drag other rivals such as St Mirren and Ross County into relegation scrap.

"Sometimes we will win games and other times the other team will win games," said Stendel. "I think it will be decided on the last game.

"I hope we can get some more points and we can bring some other teams also into the fight to stay in the league.

"Do I have an idea of how many points or wins will be required to stay up? Not really.

"When some teams win against Celtic and Rangers when it's not expected, we think 'oh s*** no' but we can only look after ourselves and we need to show we can play the game.

"We need to keep up our performances in games to win. That will help our situation as we can't influence the other teams.

"We have five games left before the split and we have to collect as many points as we can.

"The situation at present is comfortable for not one team in the league. It hasn't really changed for us after Tuesday's win. It was good that we won it but we have a long way to go and we need more results again."

Hearts outfought Hibernian in Leith as they swaggered to a 3-1 win to back up Saturday's William Hill Scottish Cup quarter-final triumph over Rangers.

And now that he has secured back-to-back wins for the first time since replacing Craig Levein in December, Stendel hopes to make it a hat-trick when third-placed Motherwell visit Tynecastle on Saturday.

Stendel said: "This was the first time this season we've won two big games in a row. That's a good sign and shows we can do it.

"Our style of play went very well in both games too and that's the main point that I take. I think we showed our mentality plus our discipline on Tuesday and that was important for me.

"The situation is good for me and the players, to have more experiences when we stay together and have the right discipline and concentration on the pitch.

"Motherwell played really well on Wednesday but we also did on Tuesday and I think we have a chance to win the game. There's a reason they are third in the table but especially at home, I feel we can win every game."

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Daniel Stendel pictured in charge of Barnsley in October 2019
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Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
Championship Group
1Celtic000080265478
2RangersRangers000072234975
3Hearts000046341262
4Kilmarnock00004334951
5St Mirren00003843-543
6Dundee00004454-1041
Relegation Group
1Hibernian00004451-739
2Motherwell00004651-537
3Aberdeen00003549-1435
4St Johnstone00002446-2231
5Ross County00003256-2430
6Livingston00002259-3718
 
First Phase
1Celtic33246380265478
2RangersRangers33243672234975
3Hearts33195946341262
4Kilmarnock33131284334951
5St Mirren33127143843-543
6Dundee331011124454-1041
7Hibernian33912124451-739
8Motherwell33813124651-537
9Aberdeen33811143549-1435
10St Johnstone33710162446-2231
11Ross County3379173256-2430
12Livingston3339212259-3718


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