Naismith happy to keep rivals at bay after testing spell
Hearts manager relieved to retain lead in third following international break
HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Kilmarnock on Big Hearts Day. It leaves the team sitting third with an 11-point lead over their opponents. The home side took the lead in the first half when Lawrence Shankland set up Kenneth Vargas to net from on the goal line. Both teams had chances but it was Killie who finished the opening 45 minutes stronger. And it was Derek McInnes’s men who got the second goal of the match, equalising through a stupendous strike from Marley Watkins.
Neither team could find the winner despite both pushing for the three points. Here are five things we learned in Gorgie:
No change in race for third
Hearts had the chance to increase their commanding position in third but, like they did in the loss at Ross County, they passed up that opportunity. Steven Naismith talked prematch about wanting a fast start and that’s exactly what he got with a number of chances early on, including the opening goal from Kenneth Vargas.
In the end, Hearts had to settle for a point with Killie the team who finished the stronger of the two, posing a threat with their directness on the counter-attack. It will be a frustration for the home side they didn’t test Will Dennis enough in the second half. They Rugby Park side have now just lost four of their last 20 matches in the west of Edinburgh.
For Naismith’s men, it is still just two defeats in the last 18 matches, a superb return. But it is now just one win from the last five Premiership matches.
Naismith felt his side lacked sharpness, with several players having been on international duty, but he was pleased that neither Killie nor St Mirren were able to eat into their 11-point advantage in third place.
“After the international break, another game has gone by and the teams below us haven’t gained any ground on us,” he said. “That’s a positive. On the back of a defeat [at Ross County last time out], the biggest thing is that you get some sort of points in the next game and we have done that.
“For me, the hardest games to deal with are the ones after the international breaks. It’s really difficult because four or five of our players didn’t get back into training until Friday. We started the game well, asked the question and got on the front foot, and then we get the goal at a good time. But then in those wee moments when we did break through, we just didn’t have that sharpness.
“We knew it was going to be a battle and a fight, Kilmarnock are really good at what they do. They are direct and the one time we don’t set up properly they get their goal. It’s a brilliant finish from Marley, who is having a really good season.”
Shankland v Killie defence
One of those players out on international duty, of course, was Tynecastle skipper Shankland. Some of the reactions to his misses for Scotland during the international break were both overblown and predictable. Despite having been up against Virgil van Dijk, he probably had a tougher afternoon in the throes of the Kilmarnock backline.
The Hearts captain is used to having to deal with the physical side of being a lone striker in the Scottish Premiership. But Kilmarnock are a whole other challenge. Their back four are all comfortable playing centre-back, good in the air and strong. Shankland had to use all his strength and streetwise to get an inch.
It wasn’t his best performance in a Hearts jersey and he didn’t get the chances he wants. Yet, he still delivered. One of those loose touches took him toward the by-line where he stood up a brilliant cross, taking Killie goalkeeper Will Dennis out if the equation, allowing Vargas to head home from on the line.
Grant sparkles and McKay returns
Jorge Grant’s displays have been a little up and down this season, but the
29-year-old playmaker showed how effective he can be for the men in maroon, particularly during the opening 45 minutes at Tynecastle.
Hearts started strongly against their rivals for third place, and Grant was at the heart of most of the home side’s better attacking moves. He tested Dennis twice in the opening 10 minutes or so, taking up clever positions in the final third and then taking advantage of the space afforded to him.
Grant’s influence waned in line with Hearts’ attacking intensity as the game wore on, but he could be fairly pleased with his performance when he was brought off with 20 minutes to go. As could his replacement – but for very different reasons.
Hearts supporters don’t need to be told about what Barrie McKay can bring to the team, and the playmaker was warmly received when he came off the bench to make his first appearance since December, and only his eighth of the season in total. Fans will be keen to see him regain his match fitness and contribute between now and the end of the season.
Kent back for Killie bombardment
Frankie Kent was conspicuous by his absence in the defeat to Ross County a fortnight ago, but the Englishman made a welcome return to the starting XI against Killie.
The centre-back, who missed Hearts’ previous three games after picking up a knee injury, has been a reliable performer since joining from Peterborough United in the summer – and although he made his presence felt, there were one or two rusty moments from the 27-year-old.
There was a careless pass out from the back early on, and a fourth booking of the season during the first half when he mistimed a challenge on Marley Watkins.
Unsurprisingly, McInnes’s men tested Hearts’ resolve by crossing the ball into the hosts’ box at any given opportunity, and they certainly gave Naismith’s side a few scares, twice grazing the woodwork with headers in the first half, and only a superb stop from Zander Clark prevented Watkins from equalising with a bulleted header right before the break.
Watkins would get his goal midway through the second half. The attacker was afforded the freedom of Gorgie 25 yards from Clark’s goal and when no pressure arrived – Kent, in particular, was guilty of sitting off his opponent – Watkins simply curled the ball into the top corner, denying Hearts a 15th clean sheet of the league season.
Pride of Ayrshire
Derek McInnes was proud of his Kilmarnock side for securing their place in the top six of the cinch Premiership with two games remaining before the split.
Killie finished 10th last year but are now guaranteed to be competing for a place in Europe in the closing weeks of the campaign after earning a 1-1 draw which moved them seven points clear of seventh-place Hibernian.
“I’m very much a happy man, to do it with two games to spare is testament to so much good work within the club, particularly from the players, the staff, the board,” said manager McInnes.