Neil Critchley admitted he ‘didn’t like’ his Hearts’ side’s performance as they were dealt a Boxing Day bloody nose by Hibs.
The brassed off Tynecastle boss insists the transfer window can’t come quick enough as he looks to inject more quality into his ranks. Before then he knows they must respond to their Hibs derby blow with three points at Ross County on Sunday. Critchley said: “I don’t think we were good enough. Our initial start to the game was fine, the first five minutes, and then conceded a really poor goal from a set-piece so we were left chasing the game.
“I thought that knocked us a little bit, to be honest. We weren’t our usual selves. We were fortunate to be 1-0. We didn’t pass the ball well enough. We didn’t keep the ball well enough. The goal knocked us. You can have a plan until you get punched in the nose. We got punched in the nose. That affected us.
“Sunday’s a hugely important game. They all are. This was a massive game for us today and we need to show more than what we showed today in every aspect. I didn’t like us today for long periods of that game.
“I’m still learning so much about the group and it’s becoming clear of what we need to do to try and move the squad and move the club forward. January will be January. I think I’ve spoken before about we want to try and get stronger in every window.
“It’s quite clear some of the areas of the pitch that we need to try and strengthen and some of that obviously you want to try and make an immediate impact but also for the benefit of the longer term strategy of the football club and that will be our aim when January gets here.”
For the second time in the space of seven days Hearts were booed off by furious home punters. But Critchley said: “I thought the supporters were brilliant. I thought they stuck with us. We didn’t play well. If you lose a derby game at home then you’d expect. We’re all frustrated. It’s totally understandable. We didn’t play well enough. We had too many under-par performances today which is disappointing to say the least.”