Exclusive:Reason behind Craig Halkett's Hearts transformation as Derek McInnes names two men he can count on

Craig Halkett’s dominant display for Hearts against Rangers drew praise from head coach Derek McInnes, who labelled the defender “my Shankland at the back”. Halkett delivered his strongest performance of the season to completely nullify Rangers’ £8m striker Youssef Chermiti in Monday’s 2-1 victory at Tynecastle, helping Hearts edge every closer to a historic Scottish Premiership league title.

The 30-year-old centre-back won headers, tackles, made key interceptions and distributed the ball with authority in his 34th outing of the season. Recent seasons saw his appearances severely limited due to hamstring, ankle and knee problems, but this term he is reaping the benefits of an injury-free run. Halkett shed nearly five kilograms in weight last summer to become a mainstay of McInnes’ Hearts team, which is now three games away from winning the league.

“Halkett has been huge for us, absolutely colossal,” McInnes told the Edinburgh News. “He’s like my Shankland at the back and gives us that strength through the middle of the pitch. Alex Schwolow, our goalkeeper, is superb as well. His training at the minute, his focus, his calmness, his experience, he is really helping us. We have that right through the spine of the team. I looked at the injured lads walking round the pitch at the end on Monday and I’m thinking: ‘Wow. Look how good a team and how strong a squad we would have with all these guys available.’

“Halkett has had so many issues with injuries in his time at Hearts. He is now getting the benefits of just being fit now. His game is in such a good place. He is commanding and he leads by example, dominating his direct opponent. He is really aggressive but he is also a good player. I thought we saw that in the second half against Rangers. He made a lot of good passes to get us out and go forward.”

McInnes changed tactics from 3-4-1-2 during the first half, but for the second half he reverted to 3-4-1-2 and replaced Islam Chesnokov with Blair Spittal. It was an inspired choice as Spittal stood out, helping Hearts overcome a 1-0 deficit to earn three enormous points.

“The intention at the start was 3-4-1-2 and that’s what we were for the second half, but it was Spittal instead of Islam,” explained McInnes. “I felt sorry for Islam. He was making those runs and breaking lines and the ball wasn’t coming. We needed a wee bit more subtlety and Spitz played his part in that. Our centre-backs started taking more resposibility on the ball. [Beni] Baningime and [Marc] Leonard starting taking more touches, we started playing in the spaces. All of a sudden the gaps and spaces become a bit more obvious and give our strikers a better chance to link the game.

“We got into Rangers’ third a few times before we scored. The supporters needed something to give them encouragement and I thought, in the second half, our performance was really strong. After we scored the second goal, it was all about dealing with what Rangers were going to throw at us. They got bigger and got more forward-thinking players on the pitch. We dealt with that directness to get the job done.”