Gary Mackay: Hearts still a work in progress but we can't rely solely on Liam Boyce for goals

It’s important to keep things in perspective after Hearts lost their unbeaten record at Aberdeen.

Liam Boyce is Hearts' top goalscorer this season.

Everything is relative to where we were this time last season and even the season before. We have to think there is progress being made as long as those building blocks continue to be built upon.

We can’t feel sorry for ourselves because we’ve lost a game and drawn a few, nor can we become blasé because of where we are in the league table. It’s now about going again and trying to build on what is a good start.

There was change in the summer with the recruitment process so now the coaches are putting systems and patterns of play to different players. They are teaching new players what they expect from them and that will continue until there’s a transfer window where you don’t need to bring anybody in.

Unfortunately at Hearts, we haven’t had a settled enough squad for that to happen. I hear people saying we need to do this and that in January. Do we really? Or do we need to just focus on one or two positions and try to improve those areas?

I was at McDiarmid Park to watch the game against St Johnstone and I saw footage of the Aberdeen game at the weekend. The thing that concerns me relates to goals and where they come from.

We have two of the most energetic holding midfield players that we have had at the club for many a year in Cammy Devlin and Beni Baningime. They are what’s needed in the modern game, but very rarely will any of them get their name on the scoresheet.

So if we are playing them, then the people playing ahead of them in attacking areas need to deliver. There is more of an onus and reliance on them. It’s up to them to handle that responsibility.

You can't have people doing all the donkey work for you, winning the ball and giving it to you, then you don’t create chances or don’t put the ball in the net.

In short, it shows how much Hearts rely on Liam Boyce. His goal threat is huge for us and we’ve seen that since he’s been out injured for the last couple of games. It probably highlights what we need to look for going into the next transfer window.

Unfortunately, there will be dozens of other clubs looking for the exact same thing – somebody who is going to be a goal threat on a regular basis.

You will always get the occasional worldy like John Souttar scored a couple of weeks ago. Then you can score from set-pieces as well but there is no doubt we need more players contributing goals other than Boyce.

Going back through the years, we always had players doing the unseen work who weren’t the types to create or score goals. I’m thinking guys like Neil Berry and Stefano Salvatori. They were an integral part of the teams they played in.

Salvatori had people like Stephane Adam, Jim Hamilton and Colin Cameron scoring goals ahead of him. Berry had Sandy Clark, John Colquhoun and John Robertson scoring goals. There is that balance and the guys in the front area of the pitch need to take that responsibility.

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