Neil Critchley provides Hearts injury update on duo as he praises team and 'brilliant' star in Aberdeen draw

Neil Critchley has provided a Hearts update on Frankie Kent and Stephen Kingsley after a 1-1 draw with Aberdeen.

Left-back Kingsley went down in serious discomfort and was stretchered off after reaching for a tackle in the first half of the Premiership clash. Minutes later, Frankie Kent went down and the centre-back also had to be replaced, leaving the back four made up of youngster Adam Forrester, full-back Daniel Oyegoke in at centre-half, Craig Halkett and central defender Kye Rowles at left-back.

Leighton Clarkson opened the scoring for Aberdeen soon after the Hearts duo came off the park injured and goalkeeper Craig Gordon was needed on a couple of occasions to deny the visitors a second strike. Musa Drammeh then levelled the game and Hearts had half-chances to win it late on. Speaking after the game, Critchley provided an update on the injured Jambos pair.

He said Kingsley has been left on crutches with the pair to be assessed over the next 48 hours. Critchley explained: “Kings looks like his hamstring. Obviously never nice to see a player stretched off.

“He's in the dressing room now. He's on crutches and we'll have to scan him in the next 48 hours. Fingers crossed it's obviously not as bad as it looks. Frankie's more to do with his quad. So again, we'll probably know more in the next 48 hours.

“They're experienced players. Frankie has been outstanding for us. Kingsley is so reliable, you know what you're going to get from him. So to lose two players in your back line is not ideal, obviously. But I have to say, Halkett was struggling before the game, he had a problem with his back. You could see him in the second half, he had a problem. I thought he was brilliant, absolutely brilliant.

“Adam Forrester came on, I thought he was fantastic as well. Dan rolling in, going in at centre-half. And they're playing against a really dangerous front line. That's one of Aberdeen's strengths, they can change off the bench. When we're pushing for the game and we're leaving them space, you know you're rolling the dice a little bit. But we went for the game, the crowd was incredible and we nearly won it at the end.”

Critchley was proud of his players come the end of the game. He explained: “I thought we were fantastic, particularly in the second half. I thought we started the game well, I thought we were a better team. Obviously making two changes early in the game that we had to make disrupts the flow and rhythm of the game.

“They scored with their first attempt at goal, so it would be easy for us to feel sorry for ourselves in the case of, here we go again. But I said to the players at that time, we have two choices. One, moan and sulk about it, or we fight. We certainly fought in the second half and the point is the least we deserve from that game.

“Teams go through bad spells and good spells and moments, but at the end of the season, you are where you are. We're not even halfway through the season yet, we've got plenty of games and points to play for.

“If we keep playing like we're playing, that's our challenge. As I said to the players before the game, be committed to being us. Being the team that we are and being the team that we want to be. I thought we did that and we got our just rewards for that.”

Drammeh was an impressive performer on the day and Critchley says the forward - not included in the European squad - has made it easy for him to provide starting XI spots to the summer import from Sevilla Atletico. Critchley added: “I thought he was brilliant.

“I really enjoyed watching him play. I thought he brought something different to the front line. Physicality, a bit of size and strength. He's tired obviously and that was another problem. You made two stoppages in the first half and you've only got one left. Obviously we're looking to try and change the game and we know Musa might tire, which he did. But generally I thought his all-round performance and contribution to the team was fantastic.

“The players need to do their talking on the pitch. They make the decisions for me, so Musa's made the decision for me. He's come on, he scored last week, he's done well in training. They make my job easier sometimes. Musa's making my job easier at this moment in time.”