Hearts 24 hours on

Firstly, the importance of the Tynecastle hoodoo should not be underestimated. We have lost there with a better side and we have lost there to worse Hearts sides. Hearts played very well for ninety minutes (even when two down) and if they hadn’t taken something from the match they would have been very unlucky.

Badly missed

We were guilty of inexperience in defending a lead but more disappointing was our defending under pressure. Andy Kirk was given acres of space to head home and Valois and Boyack had more space than they could imagine to score the winner. Regardless of the lack of experience in our team, this defending was simply not good enough. Terry Buthcer is quoted in the newspapers saying he lost the rag with the players in the dressing but apologised immediately afterwards because they’d given their all. While this may be good man management, it also highlights that Butcher realised our defending was unacceptable.

However, there are a number of positives we can take from the game. Despite playing behind a shaky defence, Stevie Woods had an excellent game and without his string of brilliant saves, we would have been embarrassed. Stevie did have his usual couple of hairy moments at crosses but his overall performance should help him win over the doubters he still has.

The midfield was always going to struggle without Pearson and Leitch and to be honest they never managed to take control. Playing alongside Adams and Fagan, Keith Lasley needed to step up and play a bigger role but he couldn’t do it. Lasley has always struggled without Leitch beside him and he needs to become our main midfielder over the course of the season.

Up front was where we were at our strongest, and although Lehmann and McFadden were quiet in the second half, this was more due to lack of service. The front pair linked superbly and both worked their socks off yet again. Dirk was well rewarded with a bit of luck for his goal and McFadden showed a brief repeat of his Celtic performance when he got the ball to his feet.

So, we went to Tynecastle expecting a defeat and we duly left with that defeat. Can we expect much more at East End Park next week? Probably not but we’ll travel in hope anyway.