Dylan Vente welcomed his family to Scotland for Christmas, and admits he was gutted not to giftwrap them an Edinburgh derby victory over Hearts.

The Hibs striker says he's been beating himself up over a majorly disappointing outing against his side's city rivals shortly before New Year. Nick Montgomery's side succumbed to a late sickener when Lawrence Shankland smashed into the top corner in the 93rd minute at Easter Road.

And despite being unable to send his family back to the Netherlands on a high, Vente wants to kick off 2024 with a victory as Motherwell travel to the capital on Tuesday.

"My brother and his girlfriend are over and left on Friday," said Vente. "It was good to see them and also my parents came over on Christmas Day and they left on Boxing Day then my brother came. I am a family man so it feels good to see them.

"Maybe some people see you as a football player and don’t see the other side, there is always a normal guy inside who wants to see his family. Sometimes I miss home but that’s football and part of the job.

"My brother and his girlfriend were staying with me at my apartment. After a game I am always complaining, complaining, complaining but my brother is always like, ‘be calm, it will come next time’. He keeps me calm but after the derby in that evening it was hard to keep me calm.

"If my family is not there then I always call with my dad, he always watches the games. I always talk with him and my dad is always like, ‘take it easy’, he is not a complainer, even if I play bad he always sees the positives - that is good. For the Hearts game it was hard."

Goals have dried up for the striker of late and he confessed to keeping himself awake at night replaying scenarios over and over in his head. Vente has been deployed in a role which requires a more selfless shift than a striker would perhaps like, as he is asked to help link midfield and attack. But he insists he still has to find a way to fashion, and take, more chances to score.

"I am hard on myself because I know I can do more," said Vente. "For me it’s more if I miss chances, as a striker I am really disappointed. But I also have to find a way to get those chances. 

"I replay the chances my mind but if you want to sleep I am thinking like crazy. I take a moment out of a game like 70 times and I start rethinking about it. I think it is better to go sleep and watch it the next day and I think that is normal for a footballer.

"If you miss a chance then you think maybe I should hit it with my left foot, or right foot. You start overthinking, even now I am doing it.

"Even on the training pitch you don’t think about anything, that’s the nice part about football. Even if you have troubles somewhere else at home, on the pitch it’s just you and the ball.

"I can take it out of my head, we had a team meeting and now we have to look forward to the next game."