The change which ignited Blair Spittal: Why Hearts need more of his zest, desire and fight

You need only analyse Blair Spittal’s application levels at Pittodrie to understand why Hearts need his desire in spadeloads right now. Tackles, aggression, passes, crosses and a fine goal tell only half the story. It is no coincidence that Hearts have improved somewhat in their last two matches with Spittal in the starting line-up and, importantly, in his best position.

The former Motherwell man played left of a midfield three against Dinamo Minsk in Azerbaijan last Thursday and performed well in a 2-1 victory. He lined up in the same position against Aberdeen and again stood out despite his team’s 3-2 defeat. Hearts are getting gradually better but remain two points adrift of St Johnstone at the bottom of the Premiership. Replicating Spittal’s hunger and energy throughout the team would see them climb the table quickly.

Having been used in a defensive midfield role earlier this season, a subtle shunt forward is pivotal to his recent contribution. Spittal is not a natural No.6 and never has been. He is an industrious No.8 with the intelligence to morph into a No.10 when attacking. Interim Hearts manager Liam Fox gave him licence to occupy his favoured area in the last two games and it paid dividends. Others in maroon could watch and learn.

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Spittal’s statistics make interesting reading. Against Aberdeen, he hit one shot on target and scored a raker. He also put three crosses into dangerous areas and delivered two accurate long balls out of five. He played two key passes, had 57 touch of the ball in total and recorded an overall pass accuracy rate of 74 per cent. He also won two aerial duels. Defensively, he managed two interceptions and three clearances. That amounts to a pretty all-encompassing display.

It was without question his best outing in a Hearts shirt to date. “Coming into a new club, I said at the time that I wanted to establish myself in a good team. It was going to take a bit of time to adjust,” admitted Spittal. “I've felt myself being in or out but hopefully that was a sign of things to come on Sunday.

“It felt good the last couple of games doing what Foxy has asked of me. The last couple of games have been really enjoyable working with him. We'll see what happens during the [international] break. I think everyone knows there's going to be a new manager in, so it's important in this situation that we give food for thought for whoever that's going to be.”

The delight at scoring his first Hearts goal was inescapable. Spittal raced from the opposite end of the field to celebrate in front of the travelling Tynecastle fans following a powerful finish which put his team 2-1 ahead in the match. “I found myself earlier in the season playing a lot deeper. Playing in the higher No.8 position gives me licence to connect with the players higher up the park. It was something that we spoke about before the game, the way Aberdeen defended corners. The ball worked its way out to the edge of the box and we get a shot away. Luckily, it’s gone in.

“It's easy to be glorious in defeat, but the performance level was there in large spells. Thursday demanded a lot more from us, probably tactically and from a defensive point of view. I thought, against Aberdeen, both parts of the game were really good up until the [Jorge Grant] red card. Then after that period, the way Aberdeen are playing now, it's hard and we invited the pressure on. We deepened ourselves instead of taking that step forward. It's something we need to work on as a team.

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“Obviously the red card changes things in terms of putting in a different type of performance, but I think everyone could see up until that point from the way we were playing, the performance level was definitely there. We caused Aberdeen problems. Going 1-0 behind, it would have been easy for us to go under given the position we are in, but I thought we reacted really well and that's something we need to hold on to.

“Everyone can see our frustrations at the second goal. I've not seen it back but these things happen. After we go 2-1 ahead, we still caused Aberdeen problems. I think if we ride that storm for another five or 10 minutes, then the game is totally different. It's hard to take.”

There are some positive signs emerging which Hearts will hope to nurture during international fortnight. Since Fox stepped in for former head coach Steven Naismith, a 1-1 draw with Ross County at Tynecastle, the 2-1 European victory and Sunday’s 3-2 loss have all contained some elements of hope.

“Over the last week, there have been three different types of performances,” said Spittal. “Last Saturday, we went to the end to get the point, although we wanted three. Thursday night was a good feeling, and I think given the effort levels we put in on Thursday night, and how well Aberdeen are playing, I thought for large spells we were the better team [at Pittodrie]. At this moment in time we don't get anything for that, which is disappointing.

“Foxy, Waldo [Lee Wallace] and Angus [Beith] have brought in fresh ideas. It's obviously unfortunate the way things worked out for the old manager, but Foxy has simplified a lot of things that needed worked on. I think we looked more like a team on Sunday and last Thursday. I think you could see that in terms of chances created. We caused Aberdeen a lot of problems.”

Whilst highlighting a moderate upturn, Hearts’ reality is that they are 19 points behind Aberdeen in the league. They have played eight Premiership fixtures, the Dons seven. Closing that gap will be extremely difficult between now and May. “I think it's easy to say yes or no, but most importantly I think we need to start winning games,” stressed Spittal.

“We need to put that [gap] to the back of our minds. There's not a lot in this league. Once you get a run of wins together, it's easy to see you climbing the league. A few teams have managed to do that. We know that we've got the quality in the squad if we put a run together - but we need to start somewhere.”

Spittal remains at Riccarton whilst some colleagues head off on international duty this week. One of those is Craig Gordon, who could find himself in goal for Scotland against Croatia on Saturday with Angus Gunn injured. That would represent a remarkable turnaround for the 41-year-old, who thought his international career might be over in June when he was left out of Steven Clarke’s European Championship squad.

“I think over the last period that Craigy has been in, I think everyone can see his qualities and experience,” said Spittal. “I'm sure if he's called upon in the next couple of Scotland games, he'll show everyone what he can do. He's got the full backing of the squad that he can go out there and perform.”