Three-up at the break, but no praise from Craig
Hearts manager Craig Levein watched his side lay the foundations for an emphatic victory after blowing Partick Thistle away in the first half – but admits he refused to congratulate his team at the break.
Kyle Lafferty, Steven Naismith and John Souttar all got on the score sheet during a onesided opening 45 minutes but Levein admits he did not shower his players with praise during the interval to avoid them becoming complacent.
And although the hosts failed to build on their advantage during a more competitive second half, Levein was still thrilled with the manner of the victory as the Gorgie outfit bounced back from Scottish Cup and derby disappointment to win for the first time in six games.
Levein said: “It was an excellent first half but I didn’t say well done at half-time because from my experiences if you say that, they think they’ve done a good job and the game is over.
“The tempo in the second half came down and I think that was the reason we didn’t add to our goals but overall I can’t complain.”
The victory strengthens Hearts’ bid to finish in the top six after moving four points clear of Motherwell but Levein admits that is the least the Gorgie outfit should be achieving.
He added: “We don’t want to be sitting here talking about finishing in the top six, our ambitions are higher.
“We want to go higher than that and try to become a regular competitor in the Europa League.
“It has been a tumultuous season. There have been a lot of ups and downs and ins and outs and changes for the players to deal with.”
Holding midfielder Adao was named man of the match after producing an eyecatching performance that saw the Swiss-born player contribute to Lafferty and Naismith’s goals and Levein was thrilled with his display.
Levein added: “Joaquim was really good and he’s still not up to 100% yet.
“He also got a couple of hefty challenges and that was one of the reasons he came off. He was feeling his knee a little bit.
“I thought young Danny Amankwaa did enough to make me feel quite good about having him on the bench or starting him.”
Adao, who is on loan from Swiss side Sion, said: “People have told me that this is my best performance for Hearts. I was involved in two goals but I don’t feel it’s my best. I think I did better against Hibs.”