Hearts head coach Derek McInnes expressed no objections regarding the red card but criticized his players’ performance leading up to Craig Halkett’s sending off.
“Conceding a goal from a set piece with just two minutes remaining is incredibly frustrating,” he told BBC Scotland. “We should have dealt with that situation; allowing a free header in front of our goal is unacceptable. It’s particularly tough considering the effort we put in.”
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“We aimed to win here and threw away that chance by failing to play offensively. We achieved our position at the top of the league by being an attacking team, yet tonight we were guilty of not moving forward in the early stages of the match.”
“More forward runs and passes into open space were necessary.”
McInnes dismissed the idea that the absence of Lawrence Shankland and Cammy Devlin impacted the game, stating: “That has nothing to do with it.”
“We had players who needed to approach the game differently today, that’s all. I thought we performed adequately, but any issues we faced were self-inflicted.”
“This marks the third time in five matches that we’ve ended up with 10 men, creating a significant challenge for us. We put ourselves in a difficult position that led to the red card.”
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“We had two chances to push forward but chose not to, and that caused us to lose possession unnecessarily.”
“It’s crucial to work that extra bit harder to give our team a chance to remain competitive. We almost managed it. The fact that we have previously performed well with 10 players showed that we understood what was required.”
“No one could argue, given the effort we displayed, that we could have secured a point tonight. But we came here looking for a win and relinquished that opportunity by not playing offensively.”
“We reached the top of the league by being that attacking team, and tonight we fell short by not executing that early in the game. We needed more incisive runs from our forwards and more penetrating passes to make them reconsider their approach.”