Naisy: We defeated ourselves
Angry gaffer Stevie Naismith claimed his Hearts team beat themselves and got bullied as they threw away the points at Aberdeen.
The Jambos had gone ahead through Lawrence Shankland but ended up losing 2-1 as the Dons got back to winning ways.
Naismith criticised his team for failing to deal with Aberdeen’s direct display.
He said: “I’m disappointed. The game starts really well, we are really confident and in full control. To be so far ahead and then be sitting here after a defeat is extremely disappointing.
“We beat ourselves today, if I’m honest.
“After being in control for so long and doing so well, we end up getting bullied and that’s inevitably what has cost us.
“As Aberdeen started going more direct, we didn’t deal
with the first contacts enough or the second balls.
“Any 50-50 duel, we didn’t win enough of them. That gave them a bit of momentum.
“Ultimately we need to learn from this because in terms of being bullied, that’s not acceptable.”
Naismith is looking for his players to dig deeper.
“It’s a character thing,” he claimed. “It’s a control thing, when internally there is a bit of pressure. We need to deal with that.
“We started slashing at clearances when we’ve got four extra players in that area of the pitch. We didn’t play.
“You need to be a tough character if you want to be a successful footballer. You can’t hide or shy away.”
The one plus for Hearts was the return of Craig Halkett for the first time in almost a year after an ACL injury.
Naismith stated: “Personally for him it’s a positive that he’s back on the pitch, but I’m not looking at many positives here as the goals we conceded are soft. They are rubbish goals.
“It’s indecision for the second one and us not dealing with 50-50s for the first one. The first 30 minutes was so good, a lot of really good stuff.
“The game can’t turn that quickly in the second half when they start pumping the ball long.”