Heart of Midlothian

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

There is no doubt things at Tynecastle are looking up yet despite a gallant performance on Sunday at Pittodrie and a valuable point gained, the team remain in an unhealthy 11th place.

The welcome addition of Jamie McCart (below) and Elton Kabunga will bring competition at the back and forward areas on the pitch, and both these players should have major parts to play between now and the end of the campaign.

With only seven points separating Hearts and Motherwell in fifth place there remains a chink of light in terms of trying to obtain a European spot for next season.

Of course all that would be achieved in Hearts could lift the Scottish Cup this year, and that campaign begins on Friday night away to Highland League club Brechin City.

The two teams last met in the cup in February 1985, when a John Robertson goal was enough to take Hearts through in a replay at Tynecastle after they were held 1-1 at Glebe Park.

The result of this game should not be in doubt but as Hearts well know they can't underestimate the Angus minnows.

The defeat at Brora Rangers back in March 2021 still haunts Hearts supporters and after what has been a disappointing Premiership so far, a lengthy cup run would go a long way to show all what the team are capable off.

Image source, SNS

Zander Clark has signed a two-year contract extension with Hearts that keeps him at Tynecastle Park until 2027.

The Scotland goalkeeper joined the Jambos in September 2022 and has featured 68 times for the first team, keeping 24 clean sheets.

The 32-year-old played an integral part in securing third place in the Premiership last season and earned a place in the Scotland squad for Euro 2024.

"It's fantastic news that Zander has committed his future to the club," said head coach Neil Critchley.

"It can be challenging for a goalkeeper when they're not playing but Zander trains at 100% every day, he's supportive to his team-mates and he's a big part of our plans going forward.

"To have top-class goalkeepers competing with each other is a good thing for the club and I'm delighted to get the opportunity to continue working with him beyond the end of this season."

Image source, SNS

Greg Playfair
Fan writer

If there's one thing that won't be dry this January, it's the ink in the pen that's being used for all the transfer activities at Hearts this month.

The ink is barely dry after the signings of forward Elton Kabangu and defender Jamie McCart, yet we are being linked with two more additions on a permanent basis.

Austrian centre-half Michael Steinwender and Kazakhstan winger Islam Chesnokov already have set tongues wagging in Gorgie with their stats and YouTube show reels being passed around social media at speed.

Both Steinwender and Chesnokov would be additions in much sought after positions for us this season and the early indications are, they would both strengthen the starting 11, which is what is desperately needed.

That's no slight on the defensive pairing of McCart and Craig Halkett, who looked assured in Sunday's stalemate against Aberdeen. Halkett has actually been really good in his last three performances and it's no coincidence that we've picked up clean sheets in such games.

In truth, we should've left Pittodrie with three points following a last-minute penalty, but Ross Doohan brilliantly saved Jorge Grant's penalty.

The encouraging thing – or frustrating depending how you look at it – is that for the third game this season, we looked more than a match for Aberdeen and leave disappointed not to have finished victorious. To me, it highlights how important this January window is for us to get good options in the squad, as if we were able to bring on better quality attacking players in that second half, we would have won that match comfortably.

For the third transfer window in a row, we ought to be targetting a target man to act as another weapon in our attacking arsenal and compliment James Wilson, Kabangu and Lawrence Shankland, for his final six months.

We turn our attention to the Scottish Cup and for teams like ourselves, it offers the best opportunity to win silverware in a season.

A Scottish Cup win would absolutely go a long way to reconcile everyone associated with Hearts from players, supporters to the board room.

That said, it's important not to underestimate our opposition on Friday night in Brechin City. Cup games live on the BBC always seem to provide good viewing for the neutral, but I'm hoping it's a one sided affair with Neil Critchley's side dominating the entire 90 minutes.

The last competitive match between the sides, was back in September 1992 at Glebe Park and plucky Brechin took us to extra-time before our legendary talisman John Robertson bailed us out with a 108th-minute winner.

I'm hoping we don't have as close a match this time around but I trust that Critchley will respect this competition and we won't see too many changes. A victory and a fourth consecutive clean sheet will do for me, and hopefully our names inked into the draw for the next round.

Hearts are among the clubs to have held talks with Tobol Kostanay regarding Kazakhstan winger Islam Chesnokov, 25. (Edinburgh Evening News - subscription), external

Midfielder Beni Baningime, 26, admits Hearts should not be second bottom of the Scottish Premiership and urges his team-mates to turn draws into wins. (Record), external

Read Tuesday's Scottish gossip

Tyrone Smith
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter at Pittodrie

Image source, SNS

Beni Baningime is confident Hearts will "definitely be able to get out of this hole they don't like being in" as the Gorgie club remain eleventh in the Scottish Premiership after their draw with Aberdeen.

The midfielder stressed the players have got themselves into this position, but there are "no excuses" with European football now out of their schedule.

He believes Hearts are showing they are "solid" after extending their unbeaten run to four games.

"I think we have been solid recently and that is the emphasis the manager has really given," Baningime told BBC Scotland.

"We have to be hard to beat as a team and the identity is if someone is going to score, they are going to have to score a worldie. We can't be conceding sloppy and silly goals.

"I think from now on it's one game a week – it is always hard with Europe, but even with that we shouldn't be where we are. I think we have enough talent in that changing room to be better and I think we will be better.

"But with fewer games, the gaffer can have a lot of time with us to instill what he wants, whereas maybe before it was like, you're playing Sunday, you're playing Thursday, you didn't have that time, but now I think there are no excuses and I think we will definitely be able to turn it round."

In their last two games, Hearts have drawn with fourth-placed Aberdeen and defeated third-place Dundee United, which the midfielder hopes can breed confidence and a better mentality.

"There are a lot of games left and we need to get ourselves out of this," he stressed.

"We are nine points away from St Johnstone, it's not a nice feeling to be second bottom.

"We don't like it, I know the fans don't like it so ultimately we can't be looking up too much, without understanding the reality of where we are. We are in a situation that we shouldn't be in or I don't believe that we should be in and taking it one game at a time will be the best thing.

"We have beat Dundee United who are third at times we were the better team today, away at the team who are fourth so why shouldn't we have that mentality?

"With that mentality, get out of this situation, get out of this hole that you have placed yourself in and hopefully your ability will show."

Watch Sportscene analysis of Hearts' 0-0 draw against Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership. Available to UK viewers.

Jonathan Sutherland
Sportscene presenter

Craig Halkett: Three consecutive clean sheets for Hearts. Halkett has been a solid presence at the back as the Tynecastle side have turned the corner.

James Penrice: Becoming an ever present in my team of the week. His energy, quality and consistency down the left for Hearts has been fantastic to watch this season.

We asked for your views on Hearts' 0-0 draw against Aberdeen.

Here's what some of you said:

Chris: I get worried when the manager is pleased after games like this. Yes we didn't concede but we should have won the game. Aberdeen are a very poor team just now and we aren't much better. We so desperately lack a match-winner and any sort of creation. Our play is still dull and telegraphed, we seem to be happy being mediocre or 'not as bad' as before.

Brian: Devlin, Penrice and Spittal earned that point for us. Grant was poor and I don't know what penalty Critchley was talking about because the one I saw wasn't hit hard enough and was at the perfect height for the keeper. Not enough support for Wilson and a serious lack of creativity in midfield. Though it's still better than watching Shankland...

Robert: The Aberdeen game was sore to watch. Hearts are appallingly poor. No pace, no urgency, no plan, no movement, no creativity and, ultimately, no goals! This is the worst Hearts team I have seen in 75 years as a supporter. Quite simply, no heart! Neil Critchley has his work cut out to avoid relegation. Here's hoping!

Peter: Far from a great performance but we are making progress as a unit. Critchley may not prove to be a Pep but he will get us into the top six over the next four to five games, or at least he and the team will.

Matt: Same old story from us - a lot of fight and a glorious chance to finally win a game at Pittodrie which we completely chucked. I used to laugh when my Hibs-supporting mates messaged me saying 'Jambottled it' but it is unfortunately spot on this season for our mentality.

Watch highlights of Aberdeen's 0-0 draw against Hearts in the Scottish Premiership. Available to UK users only.

Image source, SNS

• Aberdeen have failed to win in their last 11 games in the Premiership, their last joint longest winless streak was from 24 January 2024 to 13 March 2024.

• Hearts have kept a clean sheet in each of their last three games in the Premiership, their last longer run of games without conceding a goal in the competition was a run of seven games from 9 December 2017 to 24 January 2018.

• Hearts are undefeated in their last four games in the Premiership, their last joint longest unbeaten streak was from 11 May 2024 to 3 August 2024.

• Hearts have stopped the opposition from scoring a first-half goal in 14 of their 23 games, only Dundee United (15) and Celtic (20) have done this more often in the league this season.

Turkish second-tier club Amedspor have offered Heart of Midlothian striker Lawrence Shankland, who is out of contract at the end of the season, a lucrative deal. (Scottish Sun)

Hearts head coach Neil Critchley has dismissed a report that Amedspor had made a bid for injured striker Shankland but did confirm Australia centre-half Kye Rowles is set to seal his move to DC United in the coming days. (The Scotsman)

Read the rest of Monday's gossip.

Hearts missed a 93rd-minute penalty in a Pittodrie stalemate as Aberdeen's winless run stretched to 11 games - matching their unbeaten streak at the start of the Scottish Premiership season.

The Tynecastle club haven't won at Pittodrie since 2016 and were gifted the perfect chance when Sivert Heltne Nilsen fouled Kenneth Vargas, but Jorge Grant's spot-kick was tipped on to the post by Ross Doohan.

What did you make of that then, Hearts fans? Did you deserve a point at Pittodrie?

Did anyone impress you?

Let us know your thoughts here.

Hearts boss Neil Critchley told BBC Scotland: "It was a very even game, not a lot in it, not many chances at either end. We had a chance to win it but it was a good save, it was more of good save than a missed penalty.

"It's three clean sheets on the bounce and we nearly nicked it, but maybe a point was a fair reflection of the game.

"It was a really competitive game between two good teams. Not a lot of goalmouth action but both teams were hard to play against. We pressed and went after them in the first half and won the ball back quite a lot but didn't make good use of those moments.

"Second half, we were in control and Craig [Gordon] hasn't had a shot to save, we grew into the game.

"We had some control in the middle third because Jorge Grant was playing for us as a 10. We had to be a little more forward thinking and penetrative with our passing and running. In truth, we probably didn't do that well enough in the whole game.

"I could be standing here with four wins on the bounce. We could have won at Ross County, we could have easily won today. We're a hard team to play against.

"We looked more like the team I want us to be but we're still a million miles away from where I hope we'll be in the future."

Andrew Petrie
BBC Sport Scotland

Image source, SNS

After a dreadful opening to the game, Hearts grew into the game without sufficiently testing Ross Doohan until the second half.

The lop-sided nature of their team was apparent throughout. James Penrice and Blair Spittal link up brilliantly on the left, but on the right the combination of Daniel Oyegoke and Musa Drammeh is uncoordinated and sloppy.

The lack of Liam Boyce was noticeable after his impact in the last three games, while the mystery around the severity of Lawrence Shankland's injury caused whispers in the travelling support.

Jorge Grant was shunted forward, with Beni Baningime dropping in behind. Hearts struggled to get it forward to James Wilson as a result, with Baningime naturally sitting deeper while Grant's link-up play isn't what Boyce's was.

Wilson was particularly quiet and Elton Kabangu was the real threat when he came on - but only he will know why he went down in the box rather than shooting.

Grant's missed penalty - Hearts' first spot-kick this season - sums up how many opportunities Critchley's side have missed this season. Another opportunity goes begging, an opportunity to leap to eighth in the table, and they will rarely get better ones.

Image source, SNS

James Penrice. Who else? The left-back has become the talisman for Hearts, like Andy Robertson was for Scotland in recent years.

Everything good comes through him. He's desperate to get forward, like a coiled spring when he gets the chance to run into space.

Quieter in the second-half, but always willing to send in a dangerous cross and put his body on the line.

New Hearts forward Elton Kabangu, 26, details his brush with death after having Covid in 2022 and coughing up blood. (Sun), external

Read Sunday's Scottish gossip

Image source, SNS

Hearts boss Neil Critchley admitted he's not paying too much attention to Aberdeen's awful form as the sides prepare to meet on Sunday.

The Dons have lost their past five games and haven't won in 10 matches - a run stretching back to the start of November.

"The fact they've not won in 10 makes me very wary," Critchley said. "I don't like those stats because eventually they will win at some point.

"They've got good players. Some of the results, if you look at some of the games, they've just not had a little bit of the rub of the green in some places. Those moments can go for you and go against you."

Hearts have gone through bad runs themselves this season - part of the reason why they currently sit 11th in the table.

Critchley's side lost four games in a row before the draw with Aberdeen at the start of December to stop the rot, and have won four out of nine since.

"We've seen that in some of our games. There's a fine line between winning and losing and they've just been on the wrong side of it a little bit," Critchley added.

"I think it will change for them at some point, just hopefully not on Sunday.

"We're in good form, we can go there confident and I don't think we've won there since 2016. That's about time we change that."

Image source, SNS

Aberdeen could hand debuts to Kristers Tobers and Jeppe Okkels after Gavin Molloy (shoulder) and Ester Sokler (hamstring) were told they face lengthy spells out.

Slobodan Rubezic is suspended, while Dimitar Mitov, Vicente Besuijen (knee), Jack Milne (ankle) and Pape Habib Gueye (quad) are still sidelined.

Hearts could hand a debut to Elton Kabangu after the Belgian striker was granted a work permit following his loan switch from Union Saint-Gilloise.

Lawrence Shankland (calf) is still out along with Gerald Taylor (knee), Calem Nieuwenhof (hamstring), Stephen Kingsley (hamstring) and Frankie Kent (quad).

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Image source, SNS

Joining Hearts was an "no-brainer" for defender Jamie McCart as he looks to make his first start against Aberdeen on Sunday.

The former St Johnstone centre-back, 27, moved from Rotherham to Tynecastle last week on a deal until 2029.

"I'm delighted to be here," he said. "It's an obvious decision when a club like Hearts come in for you and they were so keen to get me. I think that made the decision all the easier.

"I had no plans of coming back up. I was really enjoying it down south. But like I said, a club the size of Hearts with the ambitions they've got as well, it's a no-brainer.

"It was a pretty easy discussion to have with them. It went quite smoothly. I spoke with a gaffer in [sporting director] Graeme Jones and they sold it to me instantly."

Hearts have won back-to-back games for the first time this season, but still sit 11th in the Premiership table.

McCart, who made his debut off the bench to help see out victory at Dundee United on Sunday, said: "I think it's always the same at a club like Hearts, the ambitions and standards that the club and the fans demand, which is to be up close at the top of the table and competing for a cup.

"I think the boys have had an unfortunate start to the season, but performances on the whole have been good and probably misled the position in the table."

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Image source, SNS

Hearts boss Neil Critchley has been speaking to the media before his side's trip to Aberdeen on Sunday.

Here are the key points:

• With Liam Boyce set to join Derry City, Critchley says: "He quite rightly wants to play, he's got an opportunity hopefully to go and play more football. He's been brilliant in the last few weeks and he's a great guy."

• The head coach doesn't want Kye Rowles to move on, with a move to the MLS expected, but says "sometimes those things are taken out of your hands".

• Critchley is furious at the "unacceptable" leak regarding Cammy Devlin and his contract clause, said to be around £280,000, amid interest in the Australia midfielder.

• He says: "It wasn't accurate anyway, but we've not had anything from any other club regarding Cammy."

• On Devlin, Critchley adds: "Cammy's been fantastic, I love his personality, I love his infectious enthusiasm. He's a winner, he's a competitor and you want as many of those around you as possible."

• The Tynecastle boss believes there is a long way to go before he will have the squad he wants as it is not possible to "solve" the problems in one transfer window.

• Critchley is wary of Aberdeen and their current run - 10 games without a win and five losses in a row. He says they "will win at some point".

• New striker Elton Kabangu is in the squad after his work permit issues were resolved. There are no other players returning from injury yet, although Lawrence Shankland isn't far away.