Steven Naismith insists Hearts go into Saturday’s crunch game against St Mirren with increased confidence despite suffering defeat by Celtic last week.
The Hoops clinched the cinch Premiership title with a 2-0 win at Tynecastle, where goals from Kyogo Furuhashi and Oh Hyeon-gyu came after the home side lost Alex Cochrane to a contentious VAR-assisted red card on the stroke of half-time.
The Gorgie side had caused Celtic problems until it was adjudged that the Jambos defender had denied Parkhead attacker Daizen Maeda an obvious goalscoring opportunity.
Hearts interim boss Naismith had enjoyed a 6-1 win over Ross County in his first home match in charge but was far from disheartened by the Celtic setback.
“If anything else it gives us more confidence,” said Naismith, who revealed that appealing against Cochrane’s red card was discussed but it was decided “we don’t want to risk losing a player for longer”.
He added: “We have challenged the team at the top of the league who have been away out in front consistently with their performances and limited them to very little opportunities and more looking to the first half, we caused them loads of problems and not many teams have done that this season.
“I said after the game that there were lots of positives and that’s the way we looked at it coming away from the game.
“Not just looking at the game but the data that comes with it, it’s not perception, it’s fact.
“In the first half we were the dominant team, we created the better chances, where we played the game was in the better areas for us in general.
“We also analysed the goals and how they came and what we can do better but overall we are still definitely progressing as I would like and now we have to get results.”
With four fixtures remaining, Hearts are in fourth place in the table, five points behind Aberdeen, one ahead of Hibernian and two ahead of Stephen Robinson’s St Mirren, who have lost three in a row since beating the Jambos 2-0 at Tynecastle last month.
Naismith, whose side host the Dons the week after the St Mirren game, said: “The next couple of games coming up for us are going to be important.
“But we would rather be in this position, trying to go for European football than be in mid-table and not to be involved.
“St Mirren have consistently been in most games this season and they have done really well to get into the top six.
“I know as a club it is something they have been pushing for in the last few seasons and have narrowly missed out. This time they have made it which is an achievement in itself.
“The manager has come in and done a fantastic job and they have a way of playing we need to guard against.
“And as much as the results haven’t been there for them in the last couple of games, they definitely have a threat going forward.”
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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