Derek McInnes admitted 10-man Hearts had paid the price for again ‘playing with fire’ as they fell to their third Premiership defeat of the season at St Mirren.
Craig Halkett became the third Hearts player to be sent off in their last five league matches and it ended up proving costly when Miguel Freckleton headed in the winner two minutes from time.
The Tynecastle’s lead at the top will be stripped to just three points should either Rangers or Celtic win their games in hand against Kilmarnock and Aberdeen respectively tonight. And McInnes felt they had paid the price for failing to keep 11 men on the pitch.
He said: ‘It’s fair to say we’re getting used to playing with 10 men which we don’t want. It’s extra stress and you all have to work harder.
‘We’ve seen before in recent weeks that when we go down to 10 men there’s a belief there that we can go and get results — against St Mirren last time out and against Dundee. And that showed in the performance when we went down to 10 men.
‘But we have to own the fact that we can’t keep getting away with that. You can’t keep playing with fire. And it’s a red card — there’s no complaint about that.
Hearts manager Derek McInnes vents his frustration on the sidelines as his side slip to defeat
Defender Craig Halkett’s first-half red card proved costly for the Tynecastle title challengers
Just as it seemed the game was set for stalemate, Miguel Freckleton headed home the winner
‘We caused it. We got ourselves into a fankle. We had two opportunities to play it forward and we get ourselves into a bit of a state. And that culminates in a last-gasp challenge and we’ve paid for that.
‘It takes away the chance of winning the game and at that point it was keeping them at zero for as long as we could and then hoping for a moment.
‘There is a consequence of that red card and we’ve spoken about that. It’s not only to put extra stress on the lads that are playing. But there’s a consequence of that when you’re without key players for games.
‘We’ve already spoken about injuries and suspensions and getting through that, and our coping mechanisms have been brilliant so far.
‘We put so much into the game and it was tough on us. After we went down to 10 men, the lads were everything I expected of them. We restricted St Mirren to very little. The organisation and the spirit of the team was brilliant.
‘It would be hard to deny we didn’t deserve a point for our spirit and everything else.’
St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson was delighted to see his men make it four games unbeaten
This was St Mirren’s first league win in eight games and lifts them up to ninth in the table, easing their relegation worries.
Manager Stephen Robinson said: ‘I thought we thoroughly deserved the win. We started brightly and our pressing was back to what it was. We continued to be patient, deliver balls and get in behind them. The subs were very good when they came on.
‘Hearts are a very good side, and hard to break down, but we moved the ball well enough and eventually got our just rewards.
‘That’s four games unbeaten now — there’s light at the end of the tunnel.’
