Twelve months ago, Lawrence Shankland scored twice in a 3-0 win over Motherwell at Tynecastle Park.
It was a result that brought relief more than anything else to Heart of Midlothian. It was a result that ensured the team could no longer finish 11th and face a dreaded play-off to preserve their Premiership status.
Having been left on the bench in the two games prior to the split, Shankland hit doubles in back-to-back games under interim boss Liam Fox against Ross County and the Steelmen to help the team to two much-needed victories following Neil Critchley's departure.
Fast forward to the present day and Hearts have clinched Champions League qualification and could achieve something even more special if they pick up four points from the next two games: The Scottish Premiership title. And it will be Shankland who would lift the trophy as captain.
“I seen a thing the other day saying we'd just beat Motherwell to confirm that we were staying up. It is mad when you think of it that way. If somebody told you at that point the position you'd be in now, you probably wouldn’t believe them," Shankland said.
“But it's football for you, isn't it? You've seen, obviously, mad things happen in the past. I'm just glad that we're in this position as opposed to that one.
“There's been a lot of change, really. Obviously, the amount of bodies that have changed, the changing room, different manager, new ideas.
“There's been a bit of freshness from the start of the season. You did feel that, obviously, last season. It was really difficult, and it's hard to get away from the negative side of it and you can understand that.
“But, obviously, most importantly for us this year, was Neil coming in and Foxy securing the club in the league. That was the most important thing at that point, because there were a couple of points where we thought we might have been in trouble.
“We'd done well to get out of that and showed character to get out of that. Then, obviously, as I said, there was that freshness from the start of the season. I think just that feeling of not wanting to be in that position as well.
“You learn a lot about yourself, you learn a lot about teammates and stuff. I think there was a real determination to be better, and it's maybe helped us in a way."
It is an amusing situation to be in, where Hearts have clinched a return to the qualifying rounds of the Champions League but it is a bit of an afterthought with a bigger prize still on offer.
"At the start of the season, back then, if they offered you second in the league, you'd have bit their hand-off. But that’s not a position we're in now, a position to go and finish first," Shankland said.
“Listen, years down the line, if you look back, you'd probably go, that season was a bit of a success for Hearts. But we want to make it one that we look back and go, wow, that was really successful."
Hearts will achieve that if they earn four points from the next two games.
To prepare for what could be a momentous week in the club's history, players had a day off on Monday, after being in on Sunday to recover from the draw with Motherwell.
Shankland admitted the players were a bit down but it wasn't so much about the result as the Achilles injuries suffered by Marc Leonard and Craig Halkett, which will see both miss upwards of seven months.
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A day off allowed players to "refresh the mind". For Shankland, that meant time with his kids and trying not to get too wrapped up in the games coming up.
“I did the school run, bit of a walk, coffee, nothing too exciting. Youngest to the park, that was it.
“Away from football, you've got your family, so nothing too much changes there. Apart from everybody wanting to talk to you about football. Obviously, my missus kind of stayed clear of that yesterday and we just took the wean to the park."
He added: "Everybody's coming in with a spring in their step at the beginning of the day. It's a good feeling down there.
“It’s another home game. We're looking forward to it. Of course, there's probably a hundred people out there that you could go and do it for. But I think everybody in there needs to go and do it for themselves first and foremost.
“If we all do that, then collectively that works as well.”
Staying through the west, it has not been as easy escaping the reminder of the title battle, with Celtic and Rangers fans having their say when bumping into the Hearts captain.
"It's either ‘are you going to win the league’ or ‘you better win the league’. That's the two options you get," he smiled.
“No, listen, of course it's exciting for everybody. It's different, I think that's the biggest thing. It's been so different this year, everybody's kind of took even more of an interest in it.
“It's a good thing, obviously, for the game, but maybe at times when you're trying to get away from it, it is difficult. But we've worked ourselves into this position and I'd much rather be in this position and talking about it than not."
Shankland won't be listening out for the crowd reaction to determine what is happening at Motherwell. The focus is on the challenge in front of them, the challenge that Falkirk will pose.
Many did not expect Hearts to be in such a position with two games of the season to go. But despite Celtic just a point behind, the Hearts striker doesn't quite subscribe to the view that the Jam Tarts are underdogs.
“Obviously, a two-horse race now. But we've been top all season, of course. If you're going to talk budgets and salaries and all that, then aye, you would say underdogs.
“But no from what I feel we've improved on the pitch and the amount of points we've got. It's much of a muchness, so we're right in there.
"A large proportion of people would have thought we'd have fell away. I think a lot of people have said that, that you've bumped into, they've been surprised.
"I think the level of belief and confidence we've got down there from the amount of games we've been winning, it's hard to take that away when that feeling is there.
“What we have done brilliantly is every time we've had a worse result than a win, we've always bounced back and won the next one.
“It's going to be important for us, obviously, in the next two as well, but I think showing that resilience through the season, you can get into the rhythm of winning games, and it's hard to stop that."
