How Kilmarnock downed Hearts at Rugby Park amid key 'sacrifice' as Neil McCann sends message to injured Jambo
Hearts lost out at Kilmarnock in their latest Premiership match.
Neil McCann has lifted the lid on how he guided Kilmarnock to a1-0 victory over Hearts in the pair’s latest meeting.
The Ayrshire side took points off the Jambos at Tynecastle last time out and inflicted a title race blow here thanks to Michael Schjonning-Larsen’s first half effort. Missing key players like Lawrence Shankland and Cammy Devlin, the league leaders failed to carve out many clear chances as they lost for the fifth time this campaign.
Celtic’s win over Motherwell means the current champions are now just two points behind in second while Rangers a place back can cut their gap to the top to three if they defeat St Mirren on Sunday. McCann, who won the Scottish Cup with Hearts in 1998, has discussed the tactics he deployed to make sure his side had the best chance of coming out on top. Rangers loanee Findlay Curtis had a key role while a striker was sacrificed as they sought solidity following a 5-1 thrashing off Falkirk last time out.
Neil McCann on Kilmarnock 1-0 Hearts
He said: “I'm very proud of that performance. I think as a coaching team we've worked really hard in the time since the Falkirk defeat to put a lot of information into the team, but also to look at ourselves to see where we had to adjust, where it went wrong against Falkirk. I'm still learning as a manager and a coach as well in games.
“We did our work, we adjusted our tactics a wee bit because you have to respect the best team in the league. They're going to throw balls in the blocks, they're going to ask you questions physically, so we had to adjust our tactics a wee bit.
“We sacrificed a striker, an out-and-out striker, just to try and give us still that domination through the middle of the pitch. And with that, still having an out-ball with Findlay Curtis .All of that tactics aside, if the boys don't do the stuff off the ball, you get nothing in this league. I thought we did all of that stuff off the ball brilliantly. We can talk about the goal, it was a sensational goal, and we might have had one or two more.
What Hearts star suffered a head injury?
“I said to Kelle Roos. He came and dominated from corners and punched and stuff but I don't really remember him making any saves worth noting. I think that's testament to the work that's done in front of him. We had to adjust and be completely respectful to a team that have been sensational this year.
“Scoring goals, putting teams under pressure, late goals. Del is a brilliant manager and he's got his team into a position where they're challenging for the title. He's throwing everything at it. Wide players, more wide players coming on, more height coming on. So we know we've got to defend well as a unit. I felt we got that spot on and still retained an element of attack and a wee bit of purpose going forward.”
McCann also sent a message to Hearts midfielder Tomas Magnusson who went off with a head injury after a nasty collision with Killie player Aaron Tshibola in the first half, amid a suspected fractured cheekbone. He said when assessing his star’s performance: “I'm not quite sure how Aaron was still on the pitch to be honest, for as long as he was. I felt he was coming off second best against big Magnusson. I'm hoping he's okay. I haven't learned how he is but the big man just said, no, he's good to go again and on he went. I just feel that he was part of a really brilliant machine.”