Hearts debrief: New shape but same lack of resilience and Zander Clark regret

A look back at Hearts’ 2-1 defeat away to Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership. It was a fifth loss out of six matches in all competitions for the Jambos and the form slump leaves Aberdeen just one point behind in the race for third place.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH

Lawrence Shankland gets the nod just ahead of Toby Sibbick for his goal and hard-working performance. The captain grabbed his 22nd goal of the season, but the service was so poor he only really had one other half chance to score. Sibbick was one of the other players who emerged with pass marks, but they were few and far between.

DEFINING MOMENT

Zander Clark goes down clutching his hamstring as Kilmarnock's Christian Doidge runs away to celebrate after putting the home side 2-1 in front.

Kilmarnock’s equaliser was an individual error and knocked the stuffing out of Hearts, exposing a fragility and lack of resilience that is being reflected in results. Until that moment the visitors were in control and relatively comfortable, Lawrence Shankland having capitalised on a Killie mistake to fire the visitors in front.

There was a slight deflection on Liam Donnelly’s strike, but Zander Clark will be annoyed at himself for not dealing with it better than he did, spilling the ball in front of him and then conceding a penalty while trying to recover.

It wasn’t so much the mistake that was the problem, it was the collective failure to take it on the chin, deal with and bounce back. Kilmarnock were allowed to boss the game from that moment on. As Neilson admitted himself, they showed the sort of resilience that Hearts lacked.

YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

On a day when there was so much for Hearts fans, players and staff to be disappointed about, let’s pick out a couple of positive moments to cling on to. Toby Sibbick was a player earlier in the season who looked low on confidence and self-belief, but the transformation has been remarkable.

One raking long ball from centre-back beautifully flighted onto Josh Ginnelly’s toe in a dangerous area on the right wing underlines just that. As did his decision later in the first half to step out of defence, surge forward with the ball and then look for a one-two on the left wing.

TACTICAL OBSERVATIONS

The fans have been asking for four at the back away from home and Barrie McKay to be dropped. Robbie Neilson did both and in the early stages of the match there was a balanced look about the team, with Kio dropping into the anchorman role in midfield, Jorge Grant and Robert Snodgrass in front on either side and Lawrence Shankland flanked by Josh Ginnelly and Alan Forrest in attack.

The manager changed to 4-4-2 at half time, which effectively became 4-2-4 when Kilmarnock were reduced to ten men for the last half hour. But this defeat wasn’t really about tactics. It was a big game for Kilmarnock too and they won most of the individual battles. They looked hungrier and more determined.

BENEFIT OF HINDSIGHT

Clark looked to be hampered by injury when failing to deal with the cross for Kilmarnock’s second goal on his six-yard box. The goalkeeper had received treatment for tweaking his hamstring when kicking long a few minutes earlier. Ross Stewart was stripped and ready to go on, but Clark played on. That decision, made either by the medical team or the goalkeeper himself, proved to be a mistake. Had Stewart gone on earlier the second Killie goal might not have happened.

REF WATCH

Euan Anderson got the big calls right, with the help of VAR Andrew Dallas. Rory McKenzie had already been booked when he caught Jorge Grant with a high challenge as he attempted to clear, but the straight red was shown only when Dallas intervened and sent Anderson to the screen. There is usually only one outcome when that happens, but it was the correct decision. Zander Clark couldn’t have any complaint about the penalty decision either.

WHAT’S NEXT

Hearts have three more games on successive Saturdays before the split, starting with the visit of St Mirren to Tynecastle Park. Slip up again and they could slip out of the top three for the first time this year.