Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes pleased with 'deserved' victory over Hearts
Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes praised his players for gaining control of their clash with top-four rivals Hearts after Jonny Hayes' goal earned them a 1-0 win at Tynecastle.
The Dons moved two points off second-placed Rangers in the Ladbrokes Premiership after Hayes volleyed home Niall McGinn's driven cross from six yards in the 66th minute.
Graeme Shinnie had earlier hit the post and Aberdeen passed up a handful of first-half opportunities while restricting Hearts' chances until the very late stages as they recorded a third consecutive victory.
McInnes, who declared himself ''more than hopeful'' that James Maddison's loan spell from Norwich would be extended, said: ''Hearts have got good players and it was important we stopped their better players having an influence on the game and I thought for the majority of the game we did that. The pitch was a bit fiery and we had to get the balance of playing in the right area and turning things on and not being too extravagant. I thought we got the balance just about right. We were wasteful with opportunities and you are just hopeful you get the rewards for the effort. While it was fiercely contested as you would expect, there was enough good play from my team in the final third, none more so than for the goal. Kenny (McLean) took a lovely touch, sucks the defender in and releases Niall and Jonny makes 60 yards up in two-and-a-half seconds and showed a real desire to get on the end of the cross. Thankfully Jonny slowed down to a whirlwind and managed to get it in the net. It was no more than we deserved.''
Hearts head coach Ian Cathro admitted Aberdeen had gained control during a scrappy opening period.
Cathro said: ''In the opening stages we probably lost the initial battle. It became closer to the type of game Aberdeen preferred. It became difficult and we had to adjust to stay strong and fight our way through that. The players deserve credit for getting to half-time at 0-0, whether that was deserved was questionable. But it was the case and that involves people fighting and scrapping and suffering and staying together and staying strong, which is positive. In the second half we made some adjustments that led to us being a little bit stronger in the game.It gave us the chance to play a little bit more. There were opportunities where we could have attacked a bit quicker and stay high up the pitch longer, ultimately we didn't do that enough. We made some mistakes defending which we need to continue to improve.''