Hearts defence takes plaudits after holding Aberdeen

Author: Clyde NewsPublished 30th Dec 2017

Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes felt his side did everything but win the game against Hearts and praised the defensive qualities of the visitors.

Hearts held on for a plucky draw against a second-half Aberdeen onslaught and McInnes picked out one moment of brilliance in particular from goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin.

He said: 'The goalkeeper's save from Adam Rooney is as good as you'll see.

'You can see why Hearts have conceded so few goals and had so many clean sheets. They defend resiliently and were set up to be a counter-attacking team.

'The opportunities they had on the counter were more to do with us not playing in the right areas. Once we addressed that in the second half, I thought we controlled the game and were guilty of not hitting the back of the net.

'I thought Hearts came for a point and a mixture of their resilient defending, their goalkeeper, and us not having the last pass or shot has meant the game has been 0-0.

'Sometimes you get frustrated with that, but the players did everything we asked of them except score a goal.'

Hearts striker Kyle Lafferty was sent off late on for a wild lunge at Graeme Shinnie and McInnes added: 'A manager will always defend his player but I don't think that can be defended.

'I'm not sure if both feet were off the ground, but his intention was to bring Graeme Shinnie down rather than win the ball.'

Hearts boss Craig Levein, though, insisted: 'He's chasing back and if you're in a chasing position like that, coming back, you leave yourself open.

'I thought it was really harsh because seeing it back he's only just missed the ball. It's a particularly sour note for him going into the winter break.'

Hearts could even have won the game with two late Isma Goncalves chances but Levein praised his defence after they recorded a club-record sixth consecutive clean sheet.

He said: 'It's the first time in the club's history and their names are in the history books. They deserve great credit.

'Their work rate was fantastic and we actually had some really good chances to win the game.

'Aaron Hughes deserves great credit for the way he played after a long spell out through injury, and Don Cowie also deserves a mention. I hadn't intended to play him in so many games, and he looked like he was reaching the end of his tether in the Hibs game.

'With so many players out injured, he had to play and was in there with two 16-year olds (Harry Cochrane and Anthony McDonald). He was excellent.

Our goalkeeper also made three superb saves but I would argue that our chances were better than theirs.