Exclusive:Resilient Hearts: Reasons behind late winning goals - and what lies ahead in SPFL Premiership
Derek McInnes’ team are preparing to face Kilmarnock, Celtic and St Mirren
Scoring late goals is an extremely useful trait in football, something Hearts are developing under Derek McInnes. Half of their six Premiership wins so far were earned by strikes in the dying minutes through fighting until the final whistle. It is a quality McInnes demands and the head coach is reaping the benefits at Tynecastle Park.
Hearts beat Dundee United 3-2 at Tannadice in August thanks to Stuart Findlay’s 94th-minute glancing header. Alexandros Kyziridis’ composed finish in the 91st minute brought a 2-1 victory at Livingston last month. Then, just over a week ago, Craig Halkett etched his name in Edinburgh derby folklore with a 92nd-minute goal as Hearts beat Hibs 1-0.
McInnes is rightly striving to harness positivity at Riccarton. Surf the wave and enjoy the ride, if you like. He isn’t daft, though. No-one will be allowed to get carried away. The habit of scoring late in games is welcome, but there is also a desire to avoid needing to do so. Hearts face Kilmarnock at Rugby Park this weekend, followed by Celtic’s visit to Tynecastle and a trip to St Mirren.
The head coach explained why he believes that resilience has become evident this season, although more hard graft lies ahead. “It's nearly half the league games, three out of seven games have had late winners,” he told the Edinburgh News. “We nearly got a last-minute winner against Motherwell [in August’s 3-3 draw] when we hit the post. Obviously the other games were a bit more straightforward. That knack of scoring late is in us. It demonstrates a strong squad, fitness, but it's more about mentality and determination. I think that's the biggest factor.
“We've got boys bursting to play. People are sitting on the bench hoping they get the shout to play. Nobody is happy to be there, everybody wants to play their part. We had loads of positive performances and outcomes from bounce games and training. I see training every day and we train with motivation. We train professionally all the time. Nobody is sitting feeling sorry for themselves when they aren't in the team. We have a good thing going at the minute. We have to recognise that there is so much hard work ahead of us, but it's work we intend to do.”
Tynecastle’s atmosphere peaks in the aftermath of a late winning goal - a point which was never better illustrated than against Hibs. “That was magic. We're not going to get that every week because you don't play Hibs every week and you don't always get last-minute winners. It was such a beautiful sight at the end,” said McInnes. “The noise, if you could bottle that and have it every week, it would be fantastic.
“The fans stayed with the team and the players played for them and kept going. It would have been easy for the players to say: 'You know what? It's not been our day, we'll take a 0-0, it's not a disaster, nobody has died, it's another clean sheet.' But I think everybody just thought there might just be something there for us. We talked about lack of quality, but it was a quality cross and quality finish, so you get the result.
“I thought there might have been more time added on. I turned to the fourth official and went: 'How long?' He said it was only 15 seconds. I was expecting another couple of minutes. We changed things and put Harry Milne back to full-back, trying to get our four attacking players up against Hibs' sitting midfielder and three centre-backs. We brought Michael [Steinwender] on for athleticism and speed in that channel. He was half covering Craig Halkett and half getting out to Obita in the wide area.
“When you score, you think: 'We don't actually need to take that risk.' The game was just bedlam at that point so you're just hoping that, when the ball goes forward, we get enough first contact on it - headers and things like that. I thought we did that brilliantly throughout the game. Hibs continually throw the ball in the box, play for territory, and it's not easy dealing with that. You need real concentration and determination. They are a big side but we stood up to that well.
“At half-time, I said: 'Look, we're doing enough to get a point but we aren't doing enough in an attacking sense.' If the game had finished 0-0, we would have been a bit frustrated that our quality players never really had that influence on the game. Ourselves, the staff, the players and hopefully the supporters, we're thinking there is still something there for us. That pleases me. It was like: 'As average as it's been, we still might come up with something.' Kerjota's delivery was brilliant. I'm pleased for him having that moment and Halkett's finish was magnificent.”
The dramatic goals are one thing, but others are vital cogs in the McInnes Hearts wheel. Cammy Devlin, the Australian midfielder, is playing perhaps the best football of his career this season. His form earned a recall to the Australian international squad 16 months since his last cap. He is currently with the Socceroos preparing for a friendly against the USA in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
“I'm over the moon for Cammy. I know how important it is for him,” explained McInnes. “He was in Australia's back-up squad last time and didn't make the cut. He was gutted, and I love how he shows he's gutted. He isn't blasé about it. He's desperate to play for his country and it's not always that way with boys adding to caps. I think it's recognition for performances. He's been as good as anybody in that central midfield role and I thought he was great again against Hibs.
“We hand him over to his country for two games away and we hope they look after him. When players go away with their countries, they can come back extra buoyant if it goes positively. Then we get the kickback from that, and it gives them extra motivation to be part of future squads and possibly a part of a World Cup.”