Head coach Derek McInnes says the Jambos have a good week of analysing last weekend’s 3-3 draw with Motherwell as they prepare for a tough trip to Livingston.
The Jambos travel to West Lothian on Saturday to take on David Martindale’s Lions as they look to carry some momentum from the final stages of the six-goal thriller in Gorgie.
Speaking to the media at the pre-match press conference, McInnes said:
“I was delighted with how the players finished the game. The response was from a very tough situation. The players deserve so much credit for that.
“The way the support acknowledged a home draw. Unless that's against the Old Firm, over the years, watching hearts, you very rarely see that. I think it was an appreciation for the players' relentlessness, not to give up and keep going.
“I think it's something we highlighted on Monday. It's important that a Hearts team plays with some element of risk. Whether that's risk when we don't have the ball, risk when we do have the ball. I still think that as a team, we’re just a wee bit too safe at times.
“We had a good meeting on Monday, and we threw a lot of stuff in the video [analysis], which highlighted a lot of that, but also highlighted a lot of the good stuff. When we did make the right pass and we were more effective in possession, and we were a bit braver in our work, there's an element of gain from that.
“I thought that's what Motherwell were good at. I thought they pressed us hard, and worked us, and tried to make it uncomfortable for us, tried to make that decision-making quicker for each of the players. When that press does come on, it's important that we have the answers when that comes.
“But also, I thought Motherwell played those longer passes as well. When the press came on, they had the intelligence to play beyond our press and played a lot of longer passes to try and take our bodies out of it.
“You're always learning about your players, and you learn a lot from your team. You don't want to be in that situation. The third goal was the one that killed us, really, in terms of the mountain to climb.
“We nearly climbed it, and I think the response from the players was outstanding. It's good to know that I've got that in the dressing room.”
On the challenge that Livingston will pose this weekend, McInnes added:
"I've got a lot of time for Davy [Martindale] and what he's done, and I've got a lot of time for Livingston as a club. I thought they had a tough season last time out in the Premier League. They’ve had time to reset again in the Championship, and that's the beauty of the Championship, for a lot of teams going down and then coming back up and being galvanised.
“I think with the added investment it's also given a bit of encouragement to Davy, somebody I speak to often, and I like what he does. He gets good performances from good players.
“He has changed their set-up, and obviously I think he's enjoying the new pitch. I think they’ve signed a lot of experienced players and experience a lot of the time can get the job done in the Championship.
“I think there's good togetherness here. From a team that normally wins promotion, there's normally a good spirit amongst them and a feel-good factor.
“So, it'll be a tough game for us, but we're taking over 5,000 fans. We want to try and finish this little group of games off with a strong performance and result. If we can get to an international break with 10 points from 12, that’ll be good work.
“That's our motivation, to be exactly that team. If we can do what we're expected to do, keep carrying the same goal threat, and not be as negligent in terms of giving up opportunities. We were three shots on target last week, and they scored three goals.
“We've got to make sure that we're better defensively and not give encouragement to too many teams. If we can do that, we know that goals are in us, and hopefully we can win the game.”
You can watch Derek’s press conference in full on Hearts TV.
