Exclusive:Three Hearts injury scans as players are told to 'stick it to opponents' and 'show more devilment'

Derek McInnes today implored Hearts to ‘show more devilment’ if they want to stay top of the William Hill Premiership. After seeing scoring chances wasted in Sunday’s 1-0 defeat at Aberdeen, McInnes wants his players to be more ruthless. They travel to Motherwell this weekend seeking to atone for what was their first Premiership loss of the season.

Captain Lawrence Shankland, influential midfielder Beni Baningime and dominant centre-back Craig Halkett all missed the match at Pittodrie. Halkett is available this week after serving a one-match suspension. Shankland is still nursing a hamstring complaint and is awaiting the results of a scan, but Baningime is out until nearer Christmas.

Shankland and defender Stuart Findlay underwent scans on Monday morning after Findlay was substituted with a tight calf against Aberdeen. Brazilian midfielder Eduardo Ageu also suffered a recurrence of a hamstring problem last week and was scanned on Friday. Hearts are awaiting confirmation of the results for all three players at the time of writing.

Head coach McInnes told the Edinburgh News that he wants his team to be more clinical as they look to react positively at Motherwell on Saturday. They managed 16 shots at the Aberdeen goal, but only four were on target and none found the net. The defeat leaves them four points clear at the top, with second-placed Celtic having a game in hand. “We had some decent performances at Aberdeen but we have to be honest enough and say that some players who had shown that quality this season weren't quite on it,” stated McInnes.

“Unfortunately, it was pivotal for us. I thought we had good opportunities and good moments at 0-0. It's important when you are on top that you try to stick it to the opposition. Don't wait till you go behind, show that bit more devilment. We were guilty of that, no doubt about it.

“We were guilty of being really wasteful. As an away team, we had good authority in the game. We wanted to go pretty rigid with that [back] five, really, and make sure we were matching up against them so they wouldn't be able to knit the game. We thought that, when they played the ball forward, we would be strong enough with Frankie, Michael and Stu.

“When you play a team like that, they can be vulnerable on transitions and they were vulnerable. We didn't take advantage of it. We were all a wee bit rushed, excitable, needed calmness and poise. We needed quality with our decision-making. Everything I'm saying there is all stuff that Lawrence brings.

“We went 4-4-2 in the second half, narrower on the right-hand side but stretched out [Alexandros] Kyziridis on the left. We got instant success but, again, we don't get any outcome. We got Kyziridis one-against-one time and time again against Nicky Devlin, we had [Landry] Kabore and [Claudio] Braga in front of goal and had good opportunities. We gave ourselves the best chance to get something back but, unfortunately, you can't go to Pittodrie and be as wasteful as that and expect to get something from the game.”