MARK WILSON Souttar happy to be back on track
AFTER no fewer than 16 bookings in their opening three domestic games, a lack of aggression would hardly seem foremost in the issues confronting Hearts.
For John Souttar, however, that accusation contained wounding truth. The young centre-back and sidekick Alim Ozturk were sternly criticised by manager Robbie Neilson after being undone by a long ball in last Wednesday evening’s Betfred Cup defeat to St Johnstone.
While Ozturk paid the price with demotion to the bench at Pittodrie, Souttar retained his starting place. And would go on to gain redemption.
The 19-year-old showed all the doggedness and durability required to help Hearts end a distinctly difficult week with a prized point.
In truth, this meeting between the second and third-placed teams in last season’s Premiership contained about as much excitement as an online seminar reviewing advanced accountancy practices. And even that assessment might be a little harsh on the bean-counters.
Not that Souttar cared. The only figure that mattered to him was the zero plonked beside Aberdeen’s name in the final scoreline.
‘On Wednesday we were poor, we let ourselves, the gaffer and the club down,’ lamented Souttar.
‘I include myself in that. It was a big test of character coming here to Pittodrie, so to come away with a point was good. It wasn’t the nicest of games, football-wise, but that is when you need to dig in.
‘I thought we were very poor against St Johnstone. I was very poor. I hold my hands up but here I thought we defended well.
‘I wasn’t aggressive enough in midweek and the gaffer told me that. But he has put a lot of faith in playing me. I felt I had to repay him and I thought we did with the clean sheet.’
Souttar managed to play his part without attracting too much attention from referee Kevin Clancy. Tony Watt, Faycal Rherras, Prince Buaben, Arnaud Djoum and Igor Rossi were, however, all cautioned, leaving Hearts’ early-season average at more than five bookings per game.
Neilson argues, with some merit, that the intensity of playing Celtic, St Johnstone and Aberdeen — the other sides in last term’s top four — has caused a spike that will drop away as the campaign progresses.
Souttar is equally unconcerned. Indeed, he sees no possibility of Hearts being successful this season unless they maintain a robust approach.
‘Look at Leicester last year,’ said Souttar. ‘You would describe their whole back four as aggressive.
‘(Wes) Morgan and (Robert) Huth, you wouldn’t describe them as ball-playing centre backs but they have won the league.
‘If you want to win leagues, then you have to be aggressive in some games. You can’t always play pretty football. When you get a point and you haven’t played well, then that shows your true character.
‘Bookings are part of football, especially when you are playing top teams. You have to be clever and in big games it is always fiery.
‘We were both in the top four and we both want to be up there again. There are going to be a lot of tackles in a game like this.
‘I thought we were unlucky against Celtic when we got done on the counter. Then last Wednesday was so poor, it wasn’t like us.
‘But we have put that behind us and it is done. This result shows we mean business this season.
‘After what has happened, a lot of teams and players would have crumbled but we stood up to the challenge. Aberdeen knew that as well and that was why they played a lot of long balls but we handled ourselves well.’
While Hearts felt nourished by the point, Dons boss Derek McInnes and his players refused to be downbeat about a somewhat stilted display in front of their own fans.
A fourth game in nine days offered a viable explanation for the way in which they tailed off after the interval. It was a second goalless draw for Aberdeen from their opening two Premiership fixtures.
McInnes admitted the loss of Jonny Hayes, out for another couple of weeks with a hamstring injury, has deprived his side of an X-factor when legs are weary.
‘Losing Jonny was always going to be massive,’ said Graeme Shinnie, deployed in midfield.
‘He can step up in the final third and deliver something. Any team would struggle without a player like that. But I feel we have got players who can step in and it is up to them to do something.’