Lawrence Shankland said it had been "a long time coming" after his brace against Dundee ended his goalscoring drought and moved Hearts off the bottom of the Scottish Premiership with their first win in six games.

The Hearts captain had gone 12 games without netting before his first-half double put Neil Critchley's side in a comfortable position.

The first was a pinpoint back-post header, and the second a sclaffed rebound that suggests his luck has finally turned.

The Tynecastle side leapfrog Edinburgh rivals Hibernian to rise up to 11th, while Dundee drop to sixth.

"It's been a frustrating period and you just need to dig in and get through it," Shankland told BBC Scotland. "Mentally, it can be tough at times as a striker.

"I don't think you can put a finger on exactly what it is. In every league, there's strikers who go on runs like that. It's not enjoyable when it happens to you."

The Tynecastle side leapfrog Edinburgh rivals Hibernian to rise up to 11th, while Dundee drop to sixth.

All the pre-match talk was about a first Hearts start for 17-year-old James Wilson, who had already scored two league goals this season.

Perhaps the spotlight shifting off Shankland lifted some pressure and his cushioned, looping header that gave Hearts the lead was the kind of finish he produced last season.

The cross had come from the left and the boot of James Penrice, who set up numerous chances from his flank - teeing up Wilson and Musa Drammeh for first-half opportunities.

Thankfully for them, Shankland was on hand to make it two when Jon McCracken palmed a cross into the middle of the box and the Hearts captain scuffed the rebound in.

Tony Docherty made two changes at half-time, clearly unhappy with the first-half display, but it did little to change the visitors' fortunes and in a duller second half.

There was a moment of comedy when McCracken's clearance cannoned off Antonio Portales and back to Drammeh, who raced through towards an empty net.

However, the flag was up to spare any Dundee blushes.

The drought is over, the floodgates opened, and Shankland finally scored a goal - and then another - in maroon again.

Given his strike-rate in the last two seasons, the last 70 days must have felt like an eternity.

The pressure has told at times, particularly against Cercle Brugge in the Conference League when he missed a late penalty, but now the weight has lifted.

That should, in theory, allow Hearts to rise up the table.

They were up to 10th before Kilmarnock's late leveller at Dundee United. They are just three points off eighth-placed Ross County, with a better goal difference than the teams immediately above them.

Domestically, an away trip to Kilmarnock follows before they host St Johnstone and Hibs, finishing 2024 with a visit to Dingwall.

All are winnable games and Critchley will be targeting at least nine points.

Docherty's side were brilliantly clinical against Motherwell through the week and the manager admitted the changes he made - dropping captain Simon Murray and winger Scott Tiffoney - were purely to bring "energy and freshness".

That didn't work. They rarely troubled Craig Gordon and squandered their best chance - an 87th-minute Portales header that would have set up a tense finale.

Perhaps they didn't expect Shankland to show such a cutting edge given his season so far, but they conceded too many chances and Hearts made them pay.

It was a disappointing showing given the strength they have shown at Dens Park this season and their performances on the road - given they have trips to Ibrox and Paisley this month - must improve.

Hearts boss Neil Critchley: "If we play well, and I can see intensity and aggression and we lose, I won't go for the players. If we win, but I see we can do better, they might see a different side of me.

"Even though we won, second half we could and should have played better. We were comfortable but it only takes one moment and it becomes game on.

"If we'd scored a few more goals second half, we could have made it easier for ourselves."

Dundee manager Tony Docherty: "The overriding feeling is one of frustration, because for whatever reason we weren't at it at all in the first half. I thought we were in the second half when we addressed it.

"Whether Wednesday's exertions [against Motherwell] come into that because Hearts haven't had a game, but some of our decision-making was poor, and sometimes mentally when you're fatigued you make poor decisions."