Hearts ended their run of four defeats with a hard-fought draw against Aberdeen at Tynecastle, but it was not enough to lift them off the bottom of the Scottish Premiership.

First-half injuries in quick succession to Stephen Kingsley and Frankie Kent rocked the Hearts defence and Aberdeen soon put the makeshift backline to the sword as Leighton Clarkson stole in to volley home a Shayden Morris cross.

Hearts were able to recover though, with Musa Drammeh's header deflecting in via Nicky Devlin to pull them level.

"I've only come in in the last seven weeks and I've been really encouraged by our performances," Hearts' head coach Neil Critchley told BBC Scotland.

"It's just a snapshot of where we are. You have good spells, bad spells. The league won't lie at the end of the season.

"We're not even halfway through, we've got plenty of games to play, the league is quite congested. If we keep showing the same commitment, passion, energy, with more quality at times - and a little bit of luck - things will change in our favour."

Aberdeen's title bid continues to falter as a third match without victory leaves them four points behind Celtic having a played a game more.

Hearts are two points behind city rivals Hibernian, who occupy second-bottom spot.

Despite Aberdeen and Hearts’ wildly contrasting domestic campaigns so far, some Dons fans were far from hopeful heading to Tynecastle and maybe with good reason - they haven't tasted victory there since 2017.

Hearts did enjoy a better opening period, but injuries to Kingsley and Kent silenced the home fans and soon it was the away end rocking when Clarkson scored.

The former Liverpool midfielder almost had a second just before the break, but Craig Gordon was at full stretch to deny him.

Aberdeen had to deal with an injury of their own as goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov was replaced at the break, and substitute stopper Ross Doohan's first real action was picking the ball out of his net.

Blair Spittal's cross was nodded towards goal by Drammeh - the young Spaniard making his first start for the club - and the ball deflected in via the chest of Devlin.

The Dons skipper made amends by denying a certain Hearts goal late on. A long ball into the box broke kindly for substitute Jorge Grant and with the goal at his mercy, Devlin somehow got his body in the way.

While that Aberdeen defending was valiant, they got lucky when Jack Milne was not shown a red card for his lunge on Beni Baningime, which left the Hearts midfielder crumpled on the deck. After a VAR check, Kevin Clancy was told to play on.

Grant had one final chance to win it, collecting a cross at the back post and volleying at goal, but Doohan produced a fine save to ensure Aberdeen left with a point.

After Hibernian's surprise 3-0 win over Motherwell on Saturday, there was more pressure on this game than Hearts fans would have hoped for.

While a point against the team in second place isn't a bad outcome, the game had a similar ineluctable feeling to the last few performances - Hearts would show plenty of endeavour but fail to win.

That was not helped by the loss of Kingsley, who was left writhing in agony with a hamstring injury, and Kent, who hobbled off with an apparent knee problem.

With Gerald Taylor already injured, Neil Critchley's defensive options - during a month with eight fixtures - have been hampered further and adds to his headache.

However, Drammeh's performance drew plaudits and adds real flair to Hearts' currently limited attacking threat.

The two meetings of these sides this season have been real battles and for much of this game, it looked like Aberdeen would again come out on top.

However, for all of Shayden Morris' running, they didn't cause too many problems in the second half when they should have had Hearts on the ropes.

Perhaps that was due to the six changes to the side, a result of Jimmy Thelin trying to keep the team fresh during this busy period.

The back four had never played together before and might never again, but at least Thelin learned more about his under-utilised players.

Aberdeen's nascent title tilt takes another hit and their eyes will be more fixed on the teams below them, rather than leaders Celtic.

Hearts head coach Neil Critchley told BBC Scotland: "We started the game very well, the better team, on the front foot, created good moments. The two injuries disrupt us and the flow of the game.

"We ended up with a makeshift back four. They score with their first shot. We could feel sorry for ourselves, but we showed hunger, desire, passion in the second half. We got the crowd involved and we went for the game.

"The least we deserved was a point."

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin told BBC Scotland: "You can see the players have the fight for each other. They're really trying. I liked their approach, that they run so much. They keep running.

"We need to find the rhythm again, the dynamic of the team. We have the quality.

"Sometimes when the dynamic is not there, you lose the ball and the opponents get the momentum too easily. That's the part we have to improve, because we have done it."