Three things we learned from Hearts 1-1 St Mirren

Clevid Dikamona and Arnaud Djoum embrace after the former's goal.

Where is the rhythm?

For much of the first half Craig Levein cut an animated but frustrated figure on the sidelines. On a number of occasions he waved his arms around in a hurried manner telling his players to quicken the tempo. At other times he barked orders at the midfield to get the ball out to John Souttar who was often the free man on the right. Despite the boss' pleas very little came of it, instead Hearts invariably tried to hit Uche Ikpeazu at every opportunity. However, the big striker had an off day, failing to act as that focal point, that wall to build from. It saw the ball come back and be recycled without the team gaining any rhythm. There was little improvement after the interval. Aside from a few dangerous crosses, the team were too predictable, the flicks and combinations not finding their target or breaking down, the ball being played too slowly from side to side without penetration. It was, as one fan put it to the press box, "boring".

Zlamal No.1?

In the build up to the fixture Craig Levein kept his cards close to his chest when it came to the matter of which goalkeeper would start against the Buddies. Would Colin Doyle survive his egregious mistake which cost a point at Motherwell or would Zdenek Zlamal be brought back in from the cold? The Czech keeper was given the nod to prove himself once again as the club's No.1. He largely had a watching brief in the first half as St Mirren passed up two glorious opportunities and flashed crosses across the six-yard box. He did put the side in danger with a chipped pass out the park with the resultant throw-in leading to a good shout for a penalty for the away side. The second half saw him grow in confidence. After beating away a stinging shot he conjured a fine reflex save to deny Clevid Dikamona from putting through his own net. It's Zlamal's place to lose.

Jambo Soldier

Eyebrows were raised among the away support at Easter Road in December when Clevid Dikamona was included in the Hearts defence.The centre-back was thought to be sidelined for a number of weeks after limping out during the 5-0 defeat to Livingston. He went on to put in a colossal performance in the win. It was therefore a surprise when he played just six minutes of football after that until he started against St Mirren. Slotting into the defence he put in a display which backed up fans' notion that he deserved a place in the team. Combative, powerful and composed, it reminded supporters of what they had become accustomed to watching when he partnered Jimmy Dunne earlier in the season. As well as winning his battle with Duckens Nazon, he produced an important first-half interception and then opened the scoring with an towering header.