Hearts 'chucking points away' but insist fire is there ahead of Celtic match

Derek McInnes lamented the loss of two more points as Hearts conceded a stoppage-time equaliser against Kilmarnock. The Tynecastle head coach admitted Bruce Anderson’s late goal for the visitors was ‘a sore one’ after Lawrence Shankland’s classy opener looked sufficient for victory.

Shankland’s composed finish gave Hearts a 1-0 lead minutes into the second half, but Anderson exploited an error by Hearts goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow to force an 89th-minute leveller. The hosts appealed for a stoppage-time penalty, claiming the ball struck the arm of visiting defender Dom Thompson. A VAR review disagreed and play continued. The final result leaves Hearts top of the Premiership only on goal difference ahead of Celtic, with the two teams due to meet at Celtic Park on Sunday. That is quite a contrast from the nine-point advantage Hearts held at the summit just last month.

“As long as you're only 1-0 up, the opposition's always going to feel as if they've got a chance. Kilmarnock played with the big boy on Harry Milne, just to try and get flicks. They got him up the pitch a few times, so you know you're going to have to defend your box on one or two occasions. I thought we'd just overcome that with the last long throw-in. The goal just comes out of the blue, really. It's a save that should be made. We all know that, Alex knows that. It's a sore one for us in the context of the wee run we're on.

“One-nil, Shankland, would have been just what the doctor ordered, really, just get our clean sheet. I thought we'd got a lot from the game that we'd hoped for, but we needed to carry more threat. I thought we had complete control of the game, particularly the first half and the start of the second half. Obviously, when Kilmarnock change their shape and they go a bit more direct, they go to back four and play up to the big boy, Dackers. They got a bit of territory from that a few times, but it just feels like we've chucked away a couple of points.

“It's a sore one for us in the context, as I say, of the run. We could all have just needed a win there to feel good about ourselves again, but unfortunately it's not to be. Sometimes football is like that, it's a kick in the teeth. We got a lot of praise for Alex the other day there, making a couple of really good saves in such a way for a goalkeeper. But we could just have done with that clean sheet and a 1-0 through Shankland, a win just to settle everybody down again and back to winning ways, which is exactly what we're looking for. I thought we were a better team, I thought we had good control, but while it's only 1-0, you're always going to give the opposition a bit of hope.

“It’s a pass through centrally, a run through from Shanks, and an unbelievable, calm finish - a quality finish for Lawrence. But I thought we had control, worked side to side on the outside of the shape. I thought we put some really good crosses in during the first half, but maybe we are looking for a few more crashing in on the goal and getting our bodies beyond that and getting those first touches.

“Kilmarnock are a team who are quite set in their shape with the back five. They went 5-4-1 really compact and made us go round them. I actually thought we had some good combinations to get into wide areas, but I thought we were a threat to the final bit, and then we just needed to get more touches in the box. Tomas [Magnusson] hit the woodwork, Kabore got a chance just before he came off, Braga's got a chance as he comes off the side, and works the goalkeeper. But we were expecting a bit more from ourselves in that instance.

“I just think we've got one or two of the lads who have had loads of praise and have done brilliant for us, the kind of creative ones, maybe they're just not quite there at the minute, but 1-0 should have been enough. We scored a very good goal. We should be talking about the quality of Shankland's goal. We should be talking about the fact that we're back to winning ways, but unfortunately, everybody's just going to talk about drawing the game again.”

McInnes explained that Hearts’ gameplan has been stripped back in recent weeks for players to focus on. “We tried to strip it back,” he said. “We made the point clearly yesterday that we worked on getting a wide early. We worked on putting balls in the box. We told strikers to expect the balls in the box. We just tried to strip it back. I knew we would get a lot of control and gain a lot of territory in their half, but again, it's those little combinations. We tried to go with two wingers and two full-backs who were happy to hit the byline, but I just feel as though that either our final decision in those moments, the quality of runs or whatever, I just thought sometimes we just need to be a bit more basic and simple and put balls in the box.

“Strikers like balls in the box. They need to know it's coming. There's a team trying to stop you putting the ball in the box. There's a team trying to defend their box. You get three centre-halves there a lot of the time, but I thought we could have made it a bit more of that, to be honest. Although this is how I wanted us to play. I wanted us to play with wingers. I wanted us to play with two strikers. I wanted us to ask the question of the opposition.

“I thought in the very first few minutes we did, we stretched their backline. We could have got in behind a few times, and then I thought we could have done that a wee bit more, down the sides of the centre-halves, rather than going wide all the time. We just needed a wee bit more thought, a wee bit more poise, and a bit more quality. There was nothing else. We had control of the game.

“My centre-halves dealt with the big striker [Tyreece John-Jules]. My full-backs dealt with the attacking threat on the outside of their counter-attacking threat, and we hemmed them in for long periods. Celtic won 1-0 tonight and 1-0 is enough. They were probably expecting four or five tonight against a team that were struggling a wee bit, but 1-0 is enough. I just said that earlier. Sometimes 1-0's are the better ones. They're the best ones to win. Get your clean sheet, up the road with three points knowing there's a bit more in you. But when you don't get it, it's a sore one.

“I'd rather we didn't lose the goal. So it's a blow. Of course it is. It's a blow that we had the three points. I also thought we should have a penalty at the end. I don't know. The angle I've seen is a bit inconclusive, so I don't know. But you see Lewis Mayo's reaction, who's standing next to him. He puts his head in his hands, and the boy's a bit sheepish.

“The only angle I think you can probably see of whether it is a clear run down his arm is from behind the goal, and we don't have that at this moment. But I thought we should have had a potential penalty there. I don't know what you thought? I thought we were good tonight. I thought we had, as I say, good control. And I can understand that when you've been on the wee bit of the run that we're on, that maybe hang on to the 1-0 a wee bit. We didn't try it. We tried to get Braga on like-for-like [replacing Landry Kabore]. When they go to back four, we play narrow, and Braga a wee bit narrow off, bring Spittal in and match up the three in the middle of the park.

“Sometimes at 1-0, you've still got to see the game out. We've all been there. Get your first contact. Stay nice and compact with your shape. There were two or three times where we gave the ball away when we should have looked after the ball a bit better running about halfway in, stayed calm, seeing the game out. I don't think we quite did that. We were a wee bit rushed, gave the ball away a couple of times, which just allows the opposition to maybe feel there's just something there for them. So, it’s disappointing.”

McInnes was pleased with Christian Borchgrevink’s display on his first start at right-back since the opening league game against Aberdeen. He also praised midfielder Tomas Magnusson and left-back Harry Milne. “I thought Christian did absolutely fine in the game. I thought he was eager to impress,” said McInnes. “We'd spoken about getting switches of play from Kizaridis or through the middle of the park or Stu Finlay on that side. Alan Forrest tried to drag the wing back in for Christian to get into good high advanced areas.

“I thought he had two brilliant crosses first half and I thought his willingness was there. He can be pleased with his performance. Individually, I thought the centre-halves were good [Findlay and Frankie Kent]. I thought Harry Milne was good again. I thought the middle of the park were very good. I thought Magnusson was very good. And like I say, it was a brilliant goal and unfortunately for us, we're not talking about that. We're looking at other things now again rather than just being happy with a 1-0.”

McInnes stressed there is still plenty fire within the Hearts players after a run of one win in six games. That sequence has seen their lead at the top of the Premiership erased, but a result at Celtic Park would be a timely boost. “The fire's there. The boys are firing alright. We could just do with getting a wee bit more quality back into certain areas,” added the manager. “We're not giving up loads of chances. It was 0-0 on Saturday at Motherwell.

“We should have got a clean sheet today. It was a 1-0 defeat at Aberdeen. We've lost a wee bit of our potency, I would suggest, but I don't think we've lost any of our fire. There's one or two mistakes that have come into it. The goal against Aberdeen is a wee bit abnormal in terms of getting a ricochet and the break of the ball. Tonight’s mistake, it happens. So the fire's there. The spirit's still there. We've got a good set of lads. But there's no doubt it's one extreme or the other. We're not losing games but we certainly need to be doing a bit more to win games.”