Frustrated Levein finding it tough at Tynecastle

Hearts manager Craig Levein claims he is in the most frustrating spell of his career.

Levein’s side have not won in six matches with their return to Tynecastle not proving triumphant so far.

Hearts have drawn all three home games since their new main stand’s delayed opening following safety concerns, and have only netted 14 goals in 16 Ladbrokes Premiership games.

Levein endured bitter disappointment with Hearts as a player when they lost the title and Scottish Cup final in the space of seven days in 1986 and was on the end of criticism during his time as Scotland boss.

But the 53-year-old said his second stint as Hearts boss has proved even more difficult than anticipated.

“It has been the most frustrating period of my footballing career, in all honesty,” he said ahead of today’s visit of Motherwell.

“We work extremely hard, that’s what all the data is telling us as well, and things aren’t going our way. But my view on this is always keep going, keep doing what you’re doing, keep working hard.

“If you look at our stats, we need to score more goals. I don’t think our defending is a huge problem, we are restricting teams to very few chances. We just aren’t creating enough.

“And, again, there have been reasons for that. We have had players out who are important in creating chances. But that’s the area we do need to improve.”

Levein could endure more frustration before kick-off with key attacking midfielders Arnaud Djoum and Jamie Walker both struggling through injury.