Derek McInnes warned his table-topping Hearts players they can’t keep leaving themselves short-handed in the title run-in.
The Tynecastle boss was full of praise for another gutsy display as his team beat visitors St Mirren despite having Beni Baningime sent off after 15 minutes.
It stretched their lead at the top of the Premiership to six points just three days after they won 1-0 at Dundee after goalkeeper Alexander Schlowow was dismissed.
‘We were in trouble again tonight, no two ways about it,’ said McInnes after second-half goals from captain Lawrence Shankland and sub Tomas Magnusson claimed victory.
‘Beni was distraught. I don’t think there is a more popular player in our dressing room and he was in tears. We said at half-time we were going to have to dig in again, like we did on Sunday. It was a different scenario tonight because we didn’t have the lead and something to hang onto.
Baningime, above left, was distraught after red card but Hearts still went on to win game
Shankland, above right, celebrates vital opening goal for Hearts against St Mirren
Boss McInnes was delighted with win but told players they have to cut out the red cards
‘We believe we will always create chances at Tynecastle and the crowd stayed with us.
‘There was no-one better than our captain to take that chance at a crucial moment. It was brilliant from the lads, I’m so proud of them.
‘It’s not easy and we’re not going to be able to keep winning games with 10 men. We have dug ourselves out of a couple of holes in the last two games. We can’t keep doing that, but it tells you something about your team. Good on them.’
McInnes is thrilled by the position Hearts find themselves in after two rounds of fixtures against all the other teams in the league.
‘We believe we are there on merit. It’s four months now, so it’s something substantial. I believe we can still keep winning games.
Tomas Magnusson makes sure of all three points after scoring second goal at Tynecastle
Super skipper Shankland slots home the first goal on a brilliant night for Hearts
Baningime was dismissed early in the first half for a wild lunge on St Mirren’s Roland Idowu
‘We are on 50 points at this stage, which is remarkable. I like the fact we are in the same company as Celtic and Rangers. We don’t have the spending power of those clubs but we have so much else going for us.
‘This time last year we were a bottom-six club, so there have been huge improvements from everyone. We have smart work going on from the boardroom down. This game was always a big one. We wanted to win the three league games before we play Celtic and make sure we were still top of the table.’
St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson was furious with his Premier Sports Cup winners, who have now lost four games in a row.
‘I feel let down tonight,’ said the Northern Irishman. ‘Our defending was criminal. It’s turning into a relegation battle and we’ll see who wants to stand up and be counted.’
