Hearts manager Derek McInnes urged his side to get back to basics if they want to keep their title challenge rolling well into the New Year.
The Tynecastle outfit went three down after 48 minutes during yesterday’s 3-2 derby defeat to Hibs at Easter Road with McInnes upset by the easy concession of the goals.
Captain Lawrence Shankland and midfielder Cammy Devlin got Hearts back into it and they could have earned a point in time added on with home keeper Raphael Sallinger making two great saves, but McInnes bemoaned the standard of performance during the first hour as he combed over the debris of a second league defeat of the campaign.
‘To lose the goals we did in the early part of each half, three or four minutes into each half, it was a real blow,’ he said .
‘We have loads of applause this season about how we play, the goals we score, the individual element of our team, but we didn’t do the basics well enough today. It’s as simple as that.
‘You can look at team selection, you can look at all the rest of it, but we don’t stop a switch of play, we don’t stop a cross and we don’t match a run.
Hearts boss Derek McInnes was frustrated by basic mistakes his team made at Easter Road
Hibs celebrate after striker Kieron Bowie (middle) had put them 3-0 ahead at Easter Road
‘Basics in any game, particularly a derby game, need to be done. We’ve got where we’ve got this season, not by being Barcelona, not by being something that we think we are and we’re not, but by doing the basics well and playing from that. We didn’t do that well enough.
‘We didn’t give ourselves a start in the game. We never really carried any real threat in that first half.
‘After the third goal, we lost our wherewithal for about five minutes after that. I thought our body language wasn’t great at that point because we’re not used to it. We’re not used to losing such cheap goals.
‘Then I thought you saw the strength of the team, the character of the team, the spirit of the team to keep going. Shankland gets a goal and, from there on in, you just saw Hibs having a wee wobble.
‘The keeper pulls off a brilliant save, I think with his feet, to stop us getting the equaliser, but you can’t expect to play for half an hour. In terms of the intensity, the speed, the responsibility, we played far better in that last half hour than we did for the first hour of the game and that’s why we’ve lost the game.’
Lawrence Shankland’s goal sparked a fightback from Hearts in the second half
Asked if he was angry at the nature of the loss, McInnes replied: ‘I don’t think there’s a manager out there that likes to lose a derby and wouldn’t be angry, but I think there’s no manager out there that doesn’t like watching his team not do the basics well. This is what I’m going back to.
‘In certain moments, we lost a wee bit of our composure, but I know we’re better than what we showed in that first part of it.
‘If we have two defeats in the next 19 games that we have, then we’ve had an unbelievable season. It’s important that we remind ourselves of that.
‘We’ve got to own that today. Hibs were better than us in that first half. We gifted in the third goal and everything from there on in was far more difficult.
‘I’m just disappointed for everybody associated with our club. The expectations have been raised in terms of what we’re going to do this year. It’s our intention to go and meet them.’
McInnes expects Kazakh winger Islam Chesnokov to arrive this week after visa issues and admits the club are ‘quite far down the line with one or two other things’.
He said: ‘We’re hoping we get a couple of those signings in in the early part of the window. We’ll see where we go from there.
Warren O’Hora and Jamie McGrath celebrate at full-time after Hibs’ derby win
‘A lot of these things can be dictated by your own players, your own form. We’re now going into a run of games where we’ve got Livi, Dundee and St Mirren. Hopefully, we can find some winning performances and we go again.’
Hibs boss David Gray, meanwhile, hopes derby glory can prove the launching pad for his side’s campaign, which has lacked consistent results.
‘Firstly, I’m delighted to get over the line in the end from the position we were in, but everything I asked the players to do before the game, how aggressive we were, making sure we were on the front foot straight away, scoring goals at good times as well when we were on top, is something we’ve not done of late.
‘We might have made it 4-0, but full credit to Hearts. Once they get their second goal, that’s when it completely changes and that’s when you’re massively relying on the character of the players to make sure. We’re relying on a big save for the goalkeeper at a very important time, but I think, over the piece, we deserved to win. I’m delighted for the players.
‘What had eluded us this season is probably that statement win. I don’t always feel it’s been a lack of effort. Not always getting what you deserve as well is an element of that, but this is what we needed.
Hibs boss David Gray congratulates centre-half Warren O’Hora at full-time
‘It is the halfway point in the season and that’s 19 games now, so we need to use this as a big opportunity and take all the positives from today to really kick on.’
Gray also urged his players to use the sound of club anthem ‘Sunshine On Leith’ at time-up as an added incentive ahead of the second half of the campaign.
Asked if he’ll ever tire of the song, he replied: ‘No, you certainly don’t. It’s part of it when I speak to the players and remind the players. For some of the players, that’s the first time they’ve heard it.
‘We’re not used to hearing it, although we heard it a few times last season. What I truly love about the song is you need to earn it. It doesn’t just come after a home win. It comes after big fixtures where you put everything into it and then it’s an added bonus at the end.
‘They’re special moments, special games to be involved in. That togetherness that gets built along the way with this group of players, who have managed to feel that and experience it now, should just make you want it more often.’
