Heart of Midlothian

Winger Elton Kabangu, 26, verbally agrees to join Hearts on loan from Union Saint-Gilloise in January. (Edinburgh Evening News - subscription), external

Hearts supporters plan to stage a protest against the club's hierarchy before Thursday's home fixture against Motherwell. (Edinburgh Evening News - subscription), external

Hearts' Zander Clark, 32, and Rotherham's Cameron Dawson, 29, are on Hibernian's list of potential goalkeeper signings. (Edinburgh Evening News - subscription), external

Read Monday's Scottish gossip

Watch Sportscene analysis of Hearts 2-2 draw against Ross County in the Scottish Premiership.

(Available to UK users only)

Image source, SNS

The Scottish FA's key match incident panel believe Hearts should have been awarded a penalty against Ross County.

Neil Critchley's side were 2-0 up at Dingwall when referee Ross Hardie pointed to the spot following Michee Efete's foul on James Penrice.

VAR intervened and asked the official to have another look at the incident and upon reflection, Hardie deemed to contact to have started outside the area and a free-kick was awarded instead.

But the majority of the panel agreed with the initial onfield decision, even though the initial foul had occurred outside the penalty area, four of the panel members believed there was a further foul inside the box and a penalty should have been awarded.

With the January transfer window fast approaching, where does your club need to strengthen?

Who do you want brought in and who - if anyone - is it time to ship out?

Tell us your dream transfer window, external

We asked for your views on Hearts' 2-2 draw against Ross County.

Here's what some of you said:

Dougie: We are now definitely in a relegation battle, poor defending and management decisions again. It's going to be a long season.

Lee: Patience is wearing thin and Neil Critchley is on borrowed time. If the transfer window fails to yield progress then not only does the manager need to be booted, but the entire board need to precede him. Thank you for your service, but we need better and it starts with you.

John: We're in a relegation battle half way through the season. No improvement since April/May. Drastic action required in the January window, difficult to do but there's no alternative. We need a squad to get us clear of relegation, then a total clear out come summer. To pick 42-year-old Craig Gordon over Zander Clark is madness. Critchley is trying too hard to be popular.

Jim: Scrap the obsession with the Pep Guardiola style of football and let players use the skills they are born with. There are players who are natural defenders, midfielders, strikers, but are held back by negative tactics like pointless passing across the back three/four, back to the keeper. Teams alter tactics, revert to more positive moves when losing!

Iain: Let's be clear that we should have had a penalty and then we win 3-0 and it's a great day for us. Leave that aside, the capitulation is horrific and the players should be ashamed. I said on here when Critchley was appointed that he was the wrong man and we'd be bottom at New Year.

Raymond: Total lack of composure and yet again another loss of valuable points in the fight against relegation. Critchley is simply devoid of tactics and is incapable of motivating this team. The board must face up to this current situation and replace him with a more experienced coach or manager before it is too late.

Image source, SNS

• Ross County have scored in their last four games in the Premiership, their joint longest scoring streak this season.

• Hearts have scored in their last three games in the Premiership, their longest run of games with a goal in the competition since a run of 3 games from 23 November 2024 to 7 December 2024.

• Jordan White has scored his fourth goal in the Premiership this season.

• James Wilson scored after just 1:19, the fastest goal for Hearts in the Premiership this season.

Watch all the action from Ross County's dramatic draw with Hearts in the Scottish Premiership.

(Available to UK users only).

Jordan White's 99th-minute tap-in rescued a draw for Ross County as they scored two goals in two injury-time minutes against relegation-troubled Hearts.

A goal in each half from 17-year-old striker James Wilson looked like giving Hearts a valuable win as the capital club looked to bounce back from derby defeat.

However, they found a way to throw away three valuable points.

Well, how are you feeling after that Hearts fans? How on earth did you not win that game?

Did anyone impress you? And where did it all go wrong?

Let us know your thoughts, external.

Image source, SNS

Hearts' head coach Neil Critchley: "A crazy two minutes has cost us three points. Until the 96th minute, it's been a really good team performance in difficult conditions.

"We produce two moments of quality, we're in front and comfortable but we don't defend the penalty on two occasions near the end of the game and it's cost us three points. To say that is hard to take would be an understatement.

"We should [see it out], the game is never over until it's over. The game should be over, but we don't stop the ball coming into the box well enough, which we'd done very well until that moment. To come away with one point feels like a defeat.

"Sometimes it's too simplistic to say [mentality is a concern]. Today it was lapses. For 96 minutes we were competitive, our mentality was good, we defended corners well. But if you don't do that until the end of the game, two moments cost you.

"We're in a period where moments are going us. That's on us as a group, to do better than that. It's difficult to win games of football. You have to go from the first minute to the last and do the basics well enough and we haven't done that until the end.

"It's a penalty. I don't understand why the referee is called over to the monitor. He's given a penalty, it's a factual decision. There might be contact just outside, but contact carries on inside the box. He gives a foul. It has to be clear and obvious, for me that's not. You look at the Old Firm in the final week. I'd have thought they cleared that up by now. Obviously not."

Andrew Petrie
BBC Sport Scotland

Image source, SNS

If you hadn't followed Hearts this season, you'd have thought with 95 minutes gone and the Gorgie side 2-0 up, they'd probably comfortably see it out.

As soon as County showed any attacking intent - which amounted to throwing bodies forward - Hearts looked capable of collapse.

Collapse they did, calamitously. They had defended plenty of corners well all afternoon and didn't look too troubled, until stoppage time.

When Joshua Nisbet scored, there was a feeling that County would get another and it was Craig Gordon - a man who has bailed Hearts out countless times - who would gift them the goal.

This was all despite a decent performance for 95 minutes. Jorge Grant impressed on a rare start, as did Liam Boyce. 17-year-old James Wilson was unlucky not to score three.

Gordon had rarely been troubled, with a makeshift defence in front of him that had repelled everything thrown at it. Beni Baningime kept things ticking nicely in midfield and James Penrice gave his usual strong performance.

But the nervous capitulation had an inevitability about it that has fans genuinely fearful of relegation. Neil Critchley has an enormous job on his hands to stop Hearts hurtling towards the trap door and to convince fans - and his superiors - that he is the man for the job.

Image source, SNS

James Wilson. Now Hearts' joint-top goalscorer this season with five goals, and he took both of them like a seasoned pro today.

He could have had even more, were it not for the right foot of Jordan Amissah or Ross Hardie overturning his initial penalty decision.

Without Lawrence Shankland to rely on, the 17-year-old has stepped up.

Hearts are eyeing a move for Kilmarnock winger Danny Armstrong, with the 27-year-old about to enter the final six months of his deal at Rugby Park. (Scottish Sun), external

Hearts have opened talks with Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise about a loan for 26-year-old forward Elton Kabangu. (Edinburgh Evening News), external

Hearts goalkeeper Zander Clark is on the Hibs list of potential transfer targets for next season. (Edinburgh Evening News), external

Read the rest of Sunday's Scottish gossip.

Image source, SNS

Image source, SNS

Ross County forward Alex Samuel is out long-term with a thigh injury and Eli Campbell's knee problem keeps the defender out.

Centre-half Ricki Lamie is back in training, but Will Nightingale is still out.

Hearts midfielder Cammy Devlin is suspended, while Gerald Taylor, Calem Nieuwenhof, Stephen Kingsley and Frankie Kent are still out injured.

Image source, SNS

Hearts captain Lawrence Shankland says Hearts "deserve" their lowly league position for their performances this season.

The Tynecastle club are 11th in the Scottish Premiership having taken just 16 points from 19 games.

Head coach Steven Naismith was dismissed in September after eight successive defeats, but successor Neil Critchley has been unable to take Hearts up the table.

"You need to be realistic," Shankland said. "We're in a position where the league would tell you that we're not exactly a brilliant team.

"I think the season would tell you that. Right now we're not performing like a good team.

"So we are where we are in the table because we deserve to be there and that's the truth.

"I think if anyone shies away from that, they're telling themselves a lie. We are where we are and now we're going to a huge game at Ross County next that we need to go and win."

Shankland called for signings in January to help reverse Hearts' fortunes.

"[New arrivals] can help, yes," the striker said. "Obviously you need quality. You need to recruit quality players that can bring a level that's expected to perform at the football club.

"That's what we need going forward. It's up to the club and the management."

Image source, SNS

• Ross County have won just three of their 30 top-flight league matches against Heart of Midlothian (D15 L12); only against Rangers (1/24) and Celtic (2/38) have they won fewer games in the top-flight.

• Hearts have lost just one of their last 16 Scottish Premiership games against Ross County (W6 L9), although that was their last such away visit, going down 2-1 in March of last season.

• Ross County failed to win their final league match in each of the previous three calendar years (D1 L2) since a 2-0 win against Hibernian in 2020.

• Excluding years in which they were relegated, Hearts are unbeaten in their final Scottish Premiership match of a calendar year since 2016 (0-1 v Aberdeen), avoiding defeat in six such games since (W3 D3).

• Hearts' Lawrence Shankland has scored six goals in his last six Scottish Premiership appearances against Ross County, although hasn't scored in his last two such games in Dingwall.

Hearts defender Kye Rowles is attracting interest from clubs in his native Australia and in Europe, with head coach Neil Critchley saying "anyone has their price". (Edinburgh Evening News), external

Read the rest of Saturday's Scottish gossip.

Sportscene pundits Scott Allan and Steven Naismith analyse Hearts' performance in their 2-1 defeat by Hibs in the Scottish Premiership.

We asked for your thoughts on Hearts' 2-1 Boxing Day defeat by Edinburgh rivals Hibs.

Here's what some of you said:

Bryan: Neil Critchley says he did not recognise the Hearts team during the derby. That's strange as it's the same tactics I have been watching for the last nine years. Come down the right, go back. Come down the left, go back. Hold the ball until we make a mistake and lose a goal. Swap players rather than tactics or formation. I know what to expect on Sunday.

Chris: Every time I think the performance levels can't drop further, they do. Virtually no players with pass marks. Even Cammy Devlin was hiding. The squad is dire, Lawrence Shankland's form is unbelievably bad, but he has zero support and we are defensively awful. Critchley doesn't know what to do - his subs yesterday were baffling - tombola stuff.

Tom: Again we shot ourselves in the foot with an ineffective team shape. Then when we needed an uplift in performance after going behind we introduce players who are best described as past their sell by date. Clear out required but that will not happen in the January window. We will probably have to see out this horrible experience until May.

Duncan: I've been a Hearts supporter for almost 80 years. This is not an Scottish Premiership team. Relegation is becoming very close. Instead of continuing to buy lacklustre players we should be bringing more homegrown talent from the academy into the team who want to play from the heart.

Jim: We're not any better under Critchley than we were under Steven Naismith. That performance against Hibs was an all-time low. No drive in the middle of the park and lacklustre up front. As a team, so very slow all over the park. We're heading for the Championship at this rate!

Pete: I've seen a lot of blame placed at the feet of Critchley and I do agree that his subs were the wrong call. Especially Yan Dhanda for Blair Spittal. However, the squad he has to work with is terrible. No pace in any position. No players able to run with the ball. I feel sorry for any coach trying to get a result with this lot.

David: While I remain unconvinced by Critchley, the problems lie fairly and squarely with previous management and the board. Failure to move on sub-standard players, inject pace into the squad and not recognise the need for two proven strikers is costing us dearly. A successful January window is a must if we are to avoid relegation and regain our pride.

Peter: The players are losing faith in themselves and their team mates. Only the fans can lift them out of that state of mind and we must stop the pointless booing and throwing the rattle out of the pram. Get them backed and, despite the quality of management, we will improve. Try it or shut it.