Edinburgh club joint top of the SPFL Premiership

Derek McInnes joked that he couldn’t get Stuart Findlay to score enough goals at Kilmarnock, but now he can’t stop in a Hearts shirt. The on-loan Tynecastle centre-back headed home twice from corners in Sunday’s dramatic 3-2 win at Dundee United, leaving McInnes delighted at his contribution.

Findlay took five years to score four goals before joining Hearts on loan from Oxford United. He now has four goals in his first five games for the Edinburgh club after leaving Tannadice a hero. Lawrence Shankland’s penalty put the visitors ahead, but United overhauled the deficit to lead 2-1 at the interval thanks to two Ivan Dolcek strikes. Findlay headed the equaliser and then the winner in the 94th minute to complete a dramatic comeback.

“I couldn't get him to a score a goal in Kilmarnock, now he can’t stop scoring,” smiled McInnes, who managed the player at Rugby Park. “Stuart's a brilliant human, he's a brilliant boy. I knew first and foremost he's going to do his job well defensively. I think he does that week in, week out. But it's actually nice to see him getting a wee bit of a chance to shine and getting a wee bit of applause from that side of it. You see the supporters, they're choking for heroes, they're desperate to chant their name and to have that adulation.

“Stuart's job is to try and stop the other team's better players and he does that time and time again, but it's great for him to score goals. I like the fact we're building a wee bit of a reputation on set plays, because he was involved in this penalty kick as well. In saying that, I'd still like us to score more from open play, and that's something we need to look at as well. Coming from behind, you need people to stand up and Stuart normally does that and it's great for him to be involved in all three goals.”

Findlay was pulled down for Shankland’s penalty on a day when Hearts battled until the last kick for three points. They have now won both of their opening Premiership games after beating Aberdeen 2-0 at Tynecastle last Monday. This Tuesday, they will play a bounce game against Championship side Ross County to give game time to players who have not featured much in competitive action so far.

“Yeah, we got offered the game and we took it,” said McInnes. “Again, it was more for the attacking players, but Beni [Baningime] can play, [Tomas] Magnusson can play, [Calem] Nieuwenhof I think, will play all being well. So it gives us those midfield options where we're a bit stretched defensively. At the minute we don't have loads of options, but the B team have got a game on Tuesday and but we'll, we'll make it work. And I think for [Pierre Landry] Kabore, [Sabah] Kerjota, Kyzi [Alexandros Kyziridis] and James Wilson, it will be good to just get them some minutes.”

Zander Clark was culpable for United’s second goal as Dolcek’s low drive ricocheted off his arm before bouncing into the net. The Hearts goalkeeper got a hand to the Croatian’s free-kick equaliser but it also found its way through. Clark looked especially distraught at conceding the second. “Sometimes that's the way it is for goalkeepers,” said McInnes. “Sometimes they can be the hero and but today he needed his team-mates to dig him out and thankfully they've done it.

“It's a team game and, you know, some goalkeepers can be the hero and get the points for us. That's just the way it is for the boys sometimes. Other players can make mistakes and it doesn't get punished, but when goalkeepers make mistakes, it normally does.

“There was some good and some bad within the game. I thought ultimately winning by a last-minute goal is always welcomed. In the context of the game, the thing that pleased me the most was I felt the players had a responsibility and a belief that something else would happen for them and we would get that opportunity. It has to be said, at 2-2, Jim [Goodwin] would probably shake hands with the exertions of Thursday night. I've been in that position and it's hard for his players, but I thought his players gave him everything.

“We were hoping to just try and get a wee bit more concerted pressure going down the slope. Lawrence had won the toss, we wanted to come down the slope second half. Having been a player here, managed here against Dundee United often enough, I know it sometimes can be a bit difficult with particularly tired legs [in the opposition]. The game was just a bit too scrappy for me. There were too many stoppages, it was too many physios running on and we just didn't get any real rhythm. So it looked as if it may play out and it would have been a better point for United than it would have been ourselves, I think just in the context of their game on Thursday.

“We kept going and late winners are magic. I think it illustrates a lot. I think it illustrates quality off the bench, I think it illustrates the personality of the players and I also think it illustrates that real belief within the squad just to keep going. So a great win for us. It's important that we look at the game. When we lose those types of goals, it will punish us in the future if we don't address it and we don't be better at losing those types of goals. The two goals are far too simplistic for me. I know it's a nice free-kick, but it's a 60-yard ball in a diagonal. We don't get busy enough to pick up. Next minute, it's a wee bit panicky, we give away a free kick and they punish us.

“The second goal is a real disappointment. The good thing is we found a way to win and I said, we're sending our fans home happy. It's three points, and in the grand scheme of things, that's the most important thing, particularly away from home. The players didn't look as if they settled for two each. We tried to make the changes to be positive. It wasn't perfect as you see, but it was dramatic. It was a brilliant game and I thought Dundee United offered so much to it and they'll feel hard done not to get something for their efforts.”

Hearts need time for success in Scotland

McInnes underlined that the journey to success for Hearts is not a quick one after last season. “I think we're all here for a reason. I got offered the Hearts job and it ticked so many boxes for me in terms of what I want to achieve here and obviously there's been increased expectation. We just need to meet the expectation that the fans expect on us first and foremost and then see where it takes us.

“We've got a job at the minute, considering where we were. We're coming from a long way back. We were a bottom-six team last season. We never made a cup final. We'll try to integrate so many boys from coming from all over the world to try and play their part at Hearts. We'll try to integrate while still winning games of football. We've come through the League Cup games fine, we've won these last couple of league games and it's great. I think for all the lads, the Scottish lads, my staff and the foreign lads who've come in, when they see what they're actually playing for here, this club is s ready to take off.

“We just need to try and build it slowly but surely through good recruitment, good performances and just win games of football. Everything else will take care of itself. The support's there, the ambition's there, everybody's craving success. But from our side of it, we just need to deal with what we can deal with and just try to win games. We've won a game today that maybe for long spells looked as if we weren't going to.

“It would have been a better point for United, I think in the context of the game. I don't mean that because we're better than United, but just because they had the [European] game on Thursday. Jim's done a brilliant job and I hope they get through on Thursday because how they responded on Thursday, their performance in Vienna, was magnificent. I thought his players gave everything. So we had it all to do, coming from behind against a good team and we've managed to find a way to win. So we'll enjoy it and we'll get ready for St. Mirren next week.”

An injury to one of Hearts’ new signings, Norwegian right-back Christian Borchgrevink, rules him out for several weeks. He did not make the trip to Tannadice and McInnes is now considering recalling Adam Forrester from a loan at St Johnstone. Since the clubs signed a co-operation agreement for this season, players aged 16-21 who are eligible for Scottish nationsl teams can move freely between them.

“We'll deal with that tomorrow. I think we just need to take a breath,” said McInnes on Borchgrevink. “We got the news yesterday, but he could be out for six to eight weeks, effectively, which was bizarre for me how its came about. He trained fine on Thursday. No kind of real issues, reported about a tightness on Friday, we got him scanned just to make sure.

“With Adam going to St. Johnstone on that co-operation loan, he never get registered in time. I think it was a St. Johnstone issue because obviously he never got involved on Friday night [at Ross County]. We need to take a breath on that tomorrow. We'll sit down in the football department and we'll just see what's the best way forward because without Borchgrevink, we didn't really have that natural right-back or wing-back effectively today. It didn't cost us today, but we'll speak about that tomorrow and try and make the right decision.”