Stephen Kingsley injury latest as Steven Naismith says Hearts' derby collapse was nothing to do with Hibs

Tynecastle side left cursing 90 seconds of poor concentration in the Edinburgh derby

Hearts coach Steven Naismith was frustrated at the of the Edinburgh derby. Pic: SNS

Hearts head coach Steven Naismith lamented 90 seconds of poor concentration which allowed Hibs to recover from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 in the Edinburgh derby. An entertaining and open affair at Tynecastle Park saw the visitors fight back to earn a point, leaving their hosts frustrated.

Alan Forrest's stunning goal put Hearts ahead in the first half and Alex Lowry's deflected effort doubled the advantage after the break. Two goals inside two minutes by the Hibs forward Elie Youan rescued a draw for the Easter Road club, who left Gorgie by far the happier team.

"We are disappointed for sure," admitted Naismith. "Straight after the game you are going to be disappointed because you put so much into the game. I thought, for large parts of it, it was a good performance. We carried a threat, the chances we had were really good and we scored two good goals. The biggest disappointment is that we have given up two goals in the space of a minute and a half. That’s ultimately cost us three points and what would have been a very good performance. 

"It’s nothing to do with Hibs. It’s us. A minute and a half has just cost us what was a controlled and comfortable performance where we carried a threat the whole time. In time, we will look at the performance and take the positives from it, but we can question the decision making when it gets to 2-1. And ultimately our defending is what has cost us the chance to be 2-0 up with 25 minutes to go and control the game, which I thought we did for large parts."

Lowry and Forrest earned special praise from Naismith for their contributions. "I’m happy with a lot of them. You’re doing Alan Forrest a disservice if you’re not mentioning him first because I thought he was the best player on the park. He and Alex Lowry have had to be patient and they have had to deal with coming on in games. The two of them have done that really well in the last couple of weeks and that’s why they started today

"They have worked hard and I felt that today’s game was well-suited to them – and we were right because we had a good first-half performance. The chances we made were good, they weren’t just half-chances. What we worked on during the week was going to plan, so I was quite pleased with that element of it."

Lowry was substituted with Hearts 2-0 ahead as Naismith felt he looked slightly tired. "I think he was. You could see that – the game was getting a bit more stretched and the decision making… we weren’t keeping the ball when we should be because they were leaving more bodies forward. It gets end-to-end and you don’t want to lose control of it. But ultimately, it’s a minute and a half of poor decision making and poor defending that has cost us."

Hearts lost Stephen Kingsley to injury late in the first half. He was stretchered off with a suspected groin problem. "I’ve not had a chance to see or ask about it yet. I think he came off with some sort of groin injury," said Naismith. "Time will tell how severe it is. It’s disappointing we are coming away from another game with another injury, that’s for sure."