Neil Critchley knows the table doesn’t lie. But he’s is confident if Hearts continue to perform like that, then it is a matter of time before they start to climb off the bottom of the table.
The Jambos took a point against Aberdeen with a 1-1 draw, but Hibernian’s victory 24 hours before jumped them into 11th. Hearts responded with a draw against the high-flying Dons, as they came back after going behind to a Leighton Clarkson goal, claiming a point through a Nicky Devlin own goal.
The Hearts manager said: “The table won’t lie at the end of the season. It can fluctuate during the season. Teams go through bad spells and good spells and moments, but at the end of the season, you are where you are. We’re not even halfway through the season yet, we’ve got plenty of games and points to play for. If we keep playing like we’re playing, that’s our challenge.
“As I said to the players before the game, be committed to being us. Being the team that we are and being the team that we want to be. I thought we did that today and we got our just rewards for that.”
Critchley described the point as fantastic, in mitigating circumstances as he lost defensive pair Stephen Kingsley and Frankie Kent in this game through injury. He said: “Kings looks like his hamstring. It’s obviously never nice to see a player stretched off.
“He’s in the dressing room now, so hopefully he’s on crutches and we’ll have to scan him in the next 48 hours. Fingers crossed it’s obviously not as bad as it looks. Frankie’s more to do with his quad.”
He also revealed how it was an easy decision to keep captain Lawrence Shankland in his starting XI after his penalty miss away to Cercle Brugge. Critchley stated: “No, he’s a strong-willed boy. “Obviously, it’s going to affect anyone, particularly the run he’s on.
“He lives for goals, he’s a goal-scorer. Again, he could feel sorry for himself in this situation. It’s a real test for him. But he’ll come through it and he’ll get our support.
“That’s what you do when you care about the people around you. We talk about the Hearts family. You look after your family when they need you.”