Critchley confident things are looking up for bottom dogs Hearts after show of character against Aberdeen

Neil Critchley believes Hearts won’t have any worries at the end of the season if they continue to perform like they did in their 1-1 draw with Aberdeen.

The better side after Nicky Devlin’s own goal cancelled out Leighton Clarkson’s opener, the Tynecastle men were only denied the victory which would have taken them level on points with Hibs when Dons sub keeper Ross Doohan denied Jorge Grant at the end.

Hearts were forced to dig deep when they lost Stephen Kingsley to a hamstring injury in the first half with Frankie Kent having to come off with a quad concern four minutes later.

Delighted with the character his players showed in adverse circumstances, Critchley said: ‘I thought we were fantastic, particularly in the second half.

‘I thought we started the game well, I thought we were the better team. 

‘Obviously making two changes early in the game that we had to make disrupts the flow and rhythm of the game.

Spanish striker Musa Drammeh played a big part in Hearts’ equaliser at Tynecastle

Defender Stephen Kingsley had to be stretchered off with a hamstring injury in the first half

‘They scored with their first attempt at goal, so it would be easy for us to feel sorry for ourselves in the case of, “here we go again”. 

‘But I said to the players at that time, we have two choices. One, moan and sulk about it, or we fight. We certainly fought in the second half and the point is the least we deserve from that game.’

With 15 games played, Hearts remain at the foot of the Premiership.

Confident that picture will soon change, Critchley added: ‘It 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.’

Although the equaliser went down as a Devlin own goal, it stemmed from a header by Musa Drammeh.

Critchley feels the young Spaniard is now forcing his way into his side, saying: ‘If he keeps playing like that, yeah. The players need to do their talking on the pitch. They make the decisions for me, so Musa’s made the decision for me. 

‘He’s come on, he scored last week, he’s done well in training. They make my job easier sometimes. Musa’s making my job easier at this moment in time.’

Aberdeen boss Jimmy Thelin had no complaints about the outcome.

‘I think it’s a fair result when the game is over,’ he said. ‘We have some parts when we have 1-0 and we can do better maybe, but also they (Hearts) did well.

‘How the game went on, sometimes we lose the rhythm and dynamic in our team, and then we give away the ball in some situations and they create momentum from that, and that’s something we need to keep working with.’

Ahead of the visit of Celtic on Wednesday, Thelin is sweating over the fitness of Dimitar Mitov after the Bulgarian came off at half-time clutching his hamstring.

‘Let’s see tomorrow, we need to make a real check on him first, but he couldn’t keep playing so we need to change him,’ he said.