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Asked to play centre-back in a four-man defence while John Souttar nurses an ankle problem, the 27-year-old has made light of the fact he is an attacking left-back to trade.

A quickly-formed partnership with Craig Halkett has helped compensate for Souttar’s absence, keeping the Hearts defence tight and maintaining the quest for third place in the Premiership.

At Ross County on Saturday, Kingsley again stood out in a 1-1 draw which belied the number of scoring opportunities both teams created. Barrie McKay’s penalty was saved by County goalkeeper Ross Laidlaw, Alex Iacovitti then scored the opener before McKay equalised via a deflection off the home captain Jack Baldwin.

Hearts defender Stephen Kingsley goes close with a header against Ross County

The hosts also struck Craig Gordon’s goalframe three times and forced the goalkeeper into a quite magnificent double save in the second half.

“For the neutral it was probably a brilliant game, but it wasn’t to play in when you look at the chances,” said Kingsley. “It was one of those crazy games where we could have won 4-0 or they could have won 4-0. It was bizarre.

“Craig made a couple of incredible saves to keep us in it and we were unlucky we didn’t take some of the chances. A draw was probably the right result in the end, although we are disappointed we didn't take our chances and also about some of the ones we gave away.

“When you look at Ross County’s record since January, they have probably been on a par with us. So it’s not a bad point.

“I am a left-back naturally but I’ve played centre-half a few times and I feel comfortable just to slide in there. It’s a bit different positionally and a different way to play the game, trying to read the game more and maybe not as athletic getting up and down as a full-back.

“It poses different challenges and as long as I can help the team, brilliant. It’s more disciplined but also more intelligent in terms of how the game goes and trying to read the game more.

“At left-back you have your defensive duties but you also try to be more creative. At centre-half you need to be strong and powerful and be ready for anything the opposition gives you.”

Back-to-back meetings with Edinburgh rivals Hibs are next on Hearts’ agenda. The Premiership derby is first at Tynecastle next weekend, followed by the Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden.

“We’ve got loads to work on but we’ll do that before next weekend,” said Kingsley. “We have two huge games coming up. We’re in a good place and we are confident within ourselves.

“We’ve got a lot of injuries just now but I don’t feel they hamper our confidence. We still try to play the right way and we still have players who can hurt other teams. It’s a credit to the work the players and the coaching staff put in that we are still in a good position.”

Injuries not disrupting Hearts as Stephen Kingsley and others rise to the challenge

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