Steven Naismith insists successive victories should be standard practice for Hearts after a 1-0 win at Kilmarnock made it four Scottish Premiership wins in a row.
The Jam Tarts moved up to third in the table after a calamitous error by Will Dennis saw the Killie keeper spill Lawrence Shankland’s shot into his own net after 18 minutes.
The hosts enjoyed the bulk of possession as they searched for an equaliser, but a combination of their lack of cutting edge and some resolute defending from Naismith’s side would see them shut out.
“The four wins is good, I know (it was our first) three consecutive in two years, this is five years,” said Naismith.
“If I’m honest, for a club like Hearts and a few other clubs will say the same – it should be normal that you go on a run like that, it shouldn’t take five years.
“The conditions today, the pitch, it is what it is – you need to play a different way and we did it.
“On the AstroTurf pitches, every game is close because you know both teams are going to get a chance, whether that be the bounce of the ball, a slip, whatever – you are going to give up chances.
“I thought we defended really well, we probably gave them one good chance where it could have been a goal. The others, they had a header late on but our positions were really good.”
The Hearts boss remains hopeful he will not be without the services of Liam Boyce for an extended period of time after the striker limped off just before the half-hour mark.
Boyce missed the vast majority of last season with a torn cruciate ligament, though Naismith is hopeful for good news in the next few days.
“I’ve not checked since we came in, but he seemed fine,” he added.
“When he came off he mentioned that he felt something in his leg – it wasn’t as if he knew what it was. Whether that’s a nerve issue or a muscle issue, we’ll see in the coming days.”
Derek McInnes was disappointed after suffering defeat in his 700th game in management.
Killie were punished for being wasteful in front of goal and as a result suffered their first home loss in six league fixtures as well as dropping out the top six.
“I thought the result was really harsh on my team,” boss McInnes said.
“It was such an unusual goal to lose and was obviously a setback for us being at home.
“It wasn’t without its challenges, I thought the pitch was difficult for both sets of players – it was probably bordering on unplayable, it was really icy towards the second half in particular.
“I thought we were the better team but you don’t always get what you deserve, Hearts I think had one shot on target and go away with the points.”
The Kilmarnock manager refused to blame the loss on Dennis, despite the keeper’s glaring error for the Hearts goal.
Dennis has enjoyed a positive start to life at Rugby Park since joining in the summer, though had an afternoon to forget after spilling the ball into his own net and picking up a booking for a rash challenge on Yutaro Oda.
“It’s not a goal you would expect any goalkeeper to lose,” he added.
“He’s lost a goal at Dens Park where he comes through bodies and doesn’t take charge of it – but other than that he’s been absolutely fine.
“He’s been good, it’s a learning curve for him. It’s disappointing he’s lost that but we’ve had enough chances – we don’t lose the game because of Will Dennis and we need to make that clear.”
Neymar suffers fresh injury blow
Neymar sustained a new injury as he was forced off during Al-Hilal's AFC Champions League Elite win over Esteghlal.
Aleksandar Mitrovic plundered a hat-trick on Monday to seal a 3-0 win.
But Al-Hilal's victory was soured by an injury to Neymar, who had to make way just 29 minutes after he came on as a second-half substitute.
The Brazilian, who has just returned from over a year out of action following a serious knee injury, was forced off with what appeared to be a thigh issue.
Indeed, Monday's appearance was only the 32-year-old's second for Al-Hilal since his comeback.
He has featured just seven times for the Saudi Pro League champions in all competitions since his big-money move from Paris Saint-Germain in 2023.
Standard set for Clement as Rangers tee up Old Firm final clash
Phillipe Clement said Rangers' performance against Motherwell must serve as a reference for the rest of their season after they teed up a Scottish League Cup final clash with Celtic.
Rangers fought back for a 2-1 victory on Sunday, with Cyriel Dessers and Nedim Bajrami on target one day after Celtic trounced Aberdeen 6-0 in the first semi-final.
Dessers converted Connor Barron's cross to level things up in the 49th minute, then Bajrami saw his strike deflect home nine minutes from time to ease the pressure on Clement.
The Gers have endured a difficult Premiership season to date and trail rivals Celtic, who they will face in the League Cup final on December 15, by nine points in the table.
Clement, however, believes they can achieve big things if they replicate the performance they produced at Hampden Park on a regular basis.
"We can go where we want to be, which is the final," he told Premier Sports.
"We had that amazing feeling together with the fans last season and we can battle for that again.
"This needs to be also a reference game for this squad, for this new squad.
"To do what we've been doing a lot last season, to dig in and in every situation to keep our belief, to keep on going, to keep on fighting and to break the wall if we go behind...
"This can be a massive game at the end of the season to have this one as a reference. I want to see, every three days, this mentality."
Rodgers delighted as Celtic rout Aberdeen in semi-final
Celtic booked their place in the Scottish League Cup final after hammering Aberdeen 6-0 at Hampden Park on Saturday.
The 21-time winners of the tournament were inspired by a Daizen Maeda hat-trick in a near-perfect performance against the Scottish Premiership's second-placed side.
Manager Brendan Rodgers was delighted with the result and performance from his side.
"It was a testament to our players and the demands they have. They play every week in big games. We have to manage this group through every game," he told Premier Sports.
"It was up to us to decide the game and the players did that. They were brilliant today. We were more aggressive in the second half.
"Aberdeen have had an excellent season, they will continue to work well I'm sure."
The result was Aberdeen's first defeat in 17 matches in all competitions this season, with a 2-2 draw at Celtic Park last month the only time they had previously failed to win.
Cameron Carter-Vickers got the scoring under way with a header 29 minutes in, before the brilliant Maeda sat down goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov to set up Kyogo Furuhashi for a second three minutes later.
Maeda then got in on the act himself on 40 minutes before the game briefly descended into farce on the stroke of half-time, with Rodgers shown a yellow card for kicking away a ball that had gone out before slipping over.
"To be fair, I was raging because we had given the ball away," he said.
"I have my moments, like every manager. It was just the game, even though we were comfortable at 3-0.
"It was a deserved yellow card. The speed of the ball [was the issue]. I just wanted to keep the tempo of the game."
Celtic and Maeda picked up where they left off in the second half to make it 4-0 in the 50th minute before Nicolas Kuhn hammered in a fifth on the hour.
The rout was complete when Maeda wrapped up his hat-trick as he finished off a flowing attacking move with five minutes to go.
After the match, Rodgers continued to be effusive about his team, who will face either Rangers or Motherwell in the final.
"An outstanding team performance. You come up against a team that has been so, so good. We knew it would be a challenge," he told BBC Scotland.
"We had to bring our A-game and the players did that, in particular during the second half.
"We were ruthless. We worked the ball really well to create the space and made good runs.
"It's a beautiful pitch here at Hampden. It's perfect for the football we want to play."
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