Hearts earn a six-figure cash sum for Conference League win as Liam Fox dedicates victory to fans

Yan Dhanda’s late header earned Hearts a six figure cash sum as they beat Dinamo Minsk in their opening Conference League tie. The Englishman’s stoppage-time strike decided the match in Azerbaijan and ended the Edinburgh club’s run of 10 games without a win. The UEFA prize money to go with three league-phase points sits at £335,000.

Interim manager Liam Fox expressed his delight and dedicated the result to Hearts supporters back in Scotland. Fans were banned from this match in Sumqayit, with UEFA insisting clubs from Belarus play home games in neutral countries behind closed doors.

Fox took charge of Hearts for the first time on Saturday, when Lawrence Shankland’s stoppage-time header secured a point against Ross County. Dhanda’s glancing header gave the interim coach his first win. He now prepares the squad for Sunday’s Premiership match at high-flying Aberdeen. “The players worked so hard, so hard. They did play really well,” said Fox. “I thought we had moments where we had wee bits of flashes of quality, but they hung in.

READ MORE: Report and player ratings from Dinamo Minsk 1-2 Hearts

“Everybody kept going to the very end and that's twice now we've scored two late goals, which is a credit to the players. I'm thrilled for the players, but the only disappointment was that we didn't have support here tonight. So I'm hoping that in the pubs and the houses back home, we've got them off their couches. If you're going to win a game, that's the way to win a game. Overall, at the moment, just pure joy for the supporters and the players.”

Managing the club he supported as a boy to an away win in Europe is a highlight of Fox’s coaching career at the age of 40. “I'm not sure it's going to get better than that. As a coach, you chase these nights, you chase these highs, so we'll enjoy it tonight. But the thing about even being an interim manager at this club is that the next game is the most important. We know the pressure that comes having to win as much and as often as we can, the demand from the supporters.

“We get ourselves back on the flight and then we've got another huge test away to Aberdeen on Sunday, who are absolutely flying and have been brilliant under the new manager. So all focus now turns to that. We'll enjoy it probably for the next half an hour and then we'll be back and we'll see how they are tomorrow morning.”

Dhanda made his case for a more regular start at Hearts after coming on as a 75th-minute substitue. “One of the things that's really important to me is that over this short period that I've been doing this, the feeling and the togetherness in the group is really good,” said Fox. “I totally understand the disappointment when you had to leave four really good players out on Saturday from the matchday squad. Tonight, I had to leave James Wilson out.

“What really pleased me was the energy that the guys gave and the support and the togetherness and just the attitude to want to keep going and keep going and keep going. And I do believe that the harder the work, the luckier you get. We know we can play better tonight, I understand that. We're not going to get away from that. We're always looking for things to be perfect but I think tonight was hopefully another step of the step that we made on Saturday

Yeah, I think the sooner you get that when you're in a wee bit of a poor run of form, as soon as you get that, we spoke about confidence and not being able to switch it on and off. I feel that they got confidence from continuing to keep going on Saturday and getting a late goal. Then tonight we've kept going and we still had that belief that we could get the winner tonight. So we're hoping that gives us more confidence, it frees us up a wee bit more.

“We can still pass the ball better, I'm fully aware of that, but you've got to give respect to the opponent. We're playing in the Conference League, we're playing in a stadium that pitch isn't great, we're playing with no supporters. So all these challenges, we've managed to overcome that and that is purely all down to the players.”

Fox underlined the merit in sticking together. "Yeah, absolutely,” he stated. “I think, especially in football, people can sometimes forget that. Winning is not easy. Being a football player is not easy. You're going to go through highs and lows and there's points during the season in your career where you've got to fight through, you've got to keep at it and you've got to keep believing. Things can turn quickly.

“Hopefully, after the goal on Saturday, the players have had a wee confidence boost. I'm hoping that they'll get more tonight. But I'm also fully aware that we've got a really big test on Sunday again. Nobody's going to get carried away, we'll continue to keep working. However long I'm in this role for, if it's another week, whatever it is, my job is to help the players. And whoever comes into this job next is going to get a really good set of players. They're going to work for a brilliant club. Huge demand on it, but a brilliant set of supporters. Whoever gets it next is going to be a lucky guy.”

Midfielder Beni Baningime was taken off in the second half and Fox confirmed that was nothing serious. “I think it was just fatigue. Beni has been injured for a period of time before I came in and he just got back on the team. I thought he was good again tonight. I thought Adam Forster was really good again tonight. If I'm being honest with you, I don't really want to single anybody out. I thought they all gave absolutely everything. And sometimes that can carry you.”