Heart of Midlothian

Clive Lindsay
BBC Sport Scotland

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Beni Baningime's return from three games on the sidelines through illness proved crucial in getting the Neil Critchley revival back on track.

The former Everton youth was a steadying force in central midfield before setting up the vital winner, while fellow midfielder Blair Spittal's corners caused havoc for goalkeeper Ross Sinclair and his defence.

Critchley ought to be concerned at the way his side conceded so much possession and territory as they looked to simply hold on to their lead after the break and only became an attacking force again after Saints' leveller.

The Englishman will also be worried at Lawrence Shankland's continued poor form, his captain rarely looking like he would score against St Johnstone for a fourth successive game before being replaced late on.

It was left to fellow forward Kenneth Vargas, dropped for this one, to come to the rescue off the bench.

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Former Lech Poznan left-back Barry Douglas is handed his first start since joining St Johnstone as Simo Valakari makes two changes, one of them enforced, in his first home game as manager.

Having suffered his first defeat in charge last time out against St Mirren, the Finn also brings veteran winger Graham Carey into the side.

Midfielder Matthew Smith drops to the bench, while on-loan defender Lewis Neilson is ineligible against his parent club.

Beni Baningime returns to Hearts' midfield after missing the past three matches through illness as Neil Critchley makes three changes after suffering his own first defeat as Hearts manager, at home to Kilmarnock, last time out.

Baningime is joined in midfield by Yan Dhanda, with Daniel Oyegoke replacing Adam Forrester in defence.

Forrester, Cammy Devlin and forward Kenneth Vargas drop to the bench.

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St Johnstone loanee Lewis Neilson cannot participate against his parent club while Andre Raymond will be assessed after missing the midweek defeat by St Mirren.

Croatian centre-half Bozo Mikulic is still waiting for a work permit. Uche Ikpeazu is back in training following knee surgery while Cammy MacPherson (hip) and Sam McClelland (Achilles) remain out.

Hearts midfielder Beni Baningime is in line to return after missing the last three matches through illness but Yutaro Oda, Gerald Taylor (ACL) and Calem Nieuwenhof (hamstring) remain sidelined.

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Hearts boss Neil Critchley has backed struggling striker Lawrence Shankland to rediscover his goalscoring form.

The Scotland forward has netted just once in 15 club games this season and Hearts are languishing bottom of the table.

Critchley, whose side are away to St Johnstone on Saturday, said: "I spoke to him again on the training pitch this morning and of course he's a striker, he wants to score goals.

"He's frustrated that he’s not hitting the back of the net, but I think his all-round contribution in the last couple of games has been fantastic.

"I think he's played like a real captain, a real leader. He's brought so much more to the team in the way that he's played and led the line for us and he's been so, so close to hitting the back of the net.

"If he keeps putting himself in certain situations then with his finishing ability off both feet or his head, he will get goals, I've got no doubt.

"If you look at his all-round contribution to the team, his physical effort and the data that backs that up, he has put so much effort in the last few games and if he keeps working hard it will it will turn for hm."

Critchley insists he has no intention of removing the captaincy from Shankland.

"That doesn't ever come into my thinking," he said. "Otherwise, you're judging things on outcome all the time.

"Lawrence is captain. He's captain for a reason and he'll remain captain."

Falkirk manager John McGlynn discusses his time as Hearts boss under the ownership of Vladimir Romanov, who told him "never to play John Sutton again".

Watch McGlynn's Championship leaders Falkirk face Raith Rovers live on BBC Scotland on Friday, 1 November at 19:30 GMT:

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Head coach Neil Critchley has been speaking to the media before Hearts face St Johnstone this weekend.

Here are the key points:

• The Hearts boss says he's "not daft" and admits it's not difficult to see where the issues are in the team but insists he's seen positives in his four games in charge so far.

• He adds: "There is a fine line between winning and losing football matches. What happens in both penalty boxes ultimately decides the outcome of the game and the other night we weren't good enough in both boxes."

• Critchley says Hearts need to be mentally strong and "focus on the things we can affect in games".

• He says the club need to create an "elite" environment to ensure the playing staff can cope with playing three games a week.

• He is aware St Johnstone are playing a slightly different style under Simo Valakari and says "until the game against St Mirren in midweek it was working".

• Critchley admits "leader" Lawrence Shankland is "frustrated" at his lack of goals this season but the Tynecastle boss has "no doubt" he'll start finding his form soon.

• On the injury front, Beni Baningime back in contention to start and there's no other changes to the squad from the midweek defeat by Kilmarnock.

Fifteen appearances into his season, last term's Premiership top scorer Lawrence Shankland has just the one goal to show for his efforts.

The 29-year-old Scotland striker is in the last year of his Hearts contract and will inevitably be the subject of speculation come January.

In the meantime, can he rediscover his form of old? St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park on Saturday is his next chance to do so.

Shankland has happy memories of this fixture, having scored in six of his last seven appearances against St Johnstone, including each of the last three.

He has never scored in four in a row against the same team in the league and, facing a side Hearts have beaten six times in a row, including three in Perth, appears an ideal chance to do so.

Another goal would not only be welcome for a side seeking their first Premiership away win in 10 trips from Tynecastle but would be timely for the forward given Scotland fixtures against Croatia and Poland are on the horizon.

It is perhaps the most testing time of Shankland's Hearts career, but with 60 goals for the club already under his belt, he has proved time and again he can deliver.

Read all the weekend Premiership picks

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• St Johnstone have lost their last six league meetings with Hearts, the last four of which have seen the Perth men fail to score.

• Hearts have won their last three league visits to St Johnstone. The last side they won four successive top-flight away games against were Dunfermline Athletic, winning five on the bounce from 2006 to 2012.

• St Johnstone won their most recent home match in the Scottish Premiership 3-0 against Ross County last month and could win back-to-back league games at McDiarmid Park for the first time in 2024.

• Hearts are winless in nine away games in the Scottish Premiership (D3 L6) and last went 10 on the road in the top flight without victory in February 2020.

• Hearts' Lawrence Shankland has scored in six of his last seven Scottish Premiership appearances against St Johnstone, including each of the last three – he has never scored in four in a row against the same team in the competition.

Andrew Petrie
BBC Sport Scotland

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In Lawrence Shankland's debut season at Tynecastle, he became the first Hearts player since John Robertson to score 20 goals.

In his second season, he was named club captain, netted 31 times and became only the second Hearts player this century to reach the 50-goal mark for the club.

But this campaign, after 15 games in all competitions, he has just one goal. It came against Ross County, with the ball deflecting off the 29-year-old on the way into the net.

So, what's gone wrong for Shankland?

The stats show the Scotland striker is still getting chances - he's just not taking them.

He has an xG (expected goals) of 3.5, but just 24% of his shots have been on target. He takes on average 3.9 shots per game but his conversion rate is a paltry 2.4%.

Last season, his individual xG was 17.1 but his tally of 24 in the league showed he was well outperforming that. He managed that feat with just 37% of his shots on target - but there has still been a marked decrease in that stat this term.

He was attempting 3.8 shots a game, a similar number to this year, but his conversion rate sat at a much higher 18%.

Of the top scorers in the league last season, only Theo Bair and James Tavernier (although a few of his were penalties) had higher conversion rates.

Last season Shankland missed nine big chances. After 11 games, he's already missed five.

It is simplistic to say the captain's underperformance is the sole reason behind Hearts' collapse this season, but it certainly doesn't help.

Hearts scored 68 goals last season. Shankland got 46% of them. There is a reliance on their talisman to produce and when he doesn't, Hearts suffer badly. Just ask Steven Naismith.

Neil Critchley knows that now, too. Hearts camped Kilmarnock in their own box at times on Wednesday night as they dominated the ball, but too often they failed to turn that into clear-cut opportunities.

The positive is that Critchley knows there is a goalscorer in there. He just has to get the best out of him. If he's able to do that, the Gorgie side should climb off the bottom and rise up the league.

We asked for your views after Neil Critchley's first defeat, a 2-1 loss at home to Kilmarnock, left Hearts bottom of the table.

Here's what some of you said:

Maca: Once again poor defending, we continue to lose really soft goals. We are passing the ball around the back and midfield without producing in the final third. Up front we have lost our way, no impact from the bench this time against a well-organised defence. The lack of quality and pace is there to see, along with the strikers not on form!

Bryan: It was never going to be an easy fix, we got a great new manager bounce and now the reality of where Steven Naismith and Joe Savage left us becomes clear. Saturday in Perth now becomes a vital three points. Players like Barrie McKay and Lawrence Shankland need to have a serious word with themselves. The Critchley express has been delayed, but it's on the way.

Tom: We are paying the price for not having a second striker. The fans knew we needed to get one during the summer but the manager, at that time, didn't. If Shankland isn't on form then we have no real scoring threat. Teams know they can bully us. We are in serious danger of being cut adrift at the bottom of the league.

Chris: The new manager bubble has burst and it's back to reality. We scraped a draw and are back to the standard of having the ball all game and doing absolutely nothing with it. At the beginning I said we were relegation material with the squad we have and playing in Europe, and this will become a fact. It's time to start preparing for next year in the Championship.

Steven: Weak! The whole club is weak. Critchley was a weak appointment by a weak board. He needs to learn that his players are weak, have no character, and are technically poor. I don't blame Critchley because this is Hearts all over. We are in a relegation fight and Derek McInnes has done a number on us. He was the man for the job.

David: Normal service resumed. Seventy per cent possession and no end product - 18 shots at goal and only five on target. Massive mistake in not recruiting at least one, probably two strikers for the season. Both Killie goals were given away sloppily. We really need a result at St Johnstone on Saturday.

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• Kilmarnock have won nine points from losing positions in the Premiership this season, more than any other team.

• Hearts attempted 18 shots in this match, higher than their season average of 12.6 in the Premiership.

• Kyle Vassell scored his first goal of the Premiership season, netting for the first time since 11 May 2024 against St Mirren.

• Hearts have conceded three goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half this season, only St Johnstone (four) have conceded more in the Premiership.

Hearts head coach Neil Critchley says of captain Lawrence Shankland "it's not going for him" after the striker once again drew a blank in the 2-1 loss at home to Kilmarnock. (Edinburgh Evening News - subscription), external

Read Thursday's Scottish gossip

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Hearts' head coach Neil Critchley told BBC Scotland: "I'm disappointed to lose the game the way we have. We started the game well, had some good moments, looked real threatening.

"We started the second half well, but the goals we've given away are really poor to concede. An innocuous long ball that we don't deal with. The second one is fine details, we don't get the first or second contact. Far, far too easy.

"We still had plenty of time left but I felt we were anxious in our play, lost our way a little bit. That's something for me to take away."

"Up until they scored, I thought we were playing well. Two moments of poor defending has changed the game. I felt we were proactive instead of reactive all night. You learn a lot when you lose, and I've learnt a lot tonight.

"There's got to be a greater will to keep the ball out of the net when it really matters. We didn't show that on Sunday with a free-kick. We've conceded from a long throw and a long ball from the keeper tonight. It's too easy to put the ball into our goal."

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Kilmarnock came from behind at Tynecastle to earn a Scottish Premiership win and hand new head coach Neil Critchley his first defeat as Hearts head coach.

The hosts dominated the ball and looked well worth their lead when Alan Forrest struck near the end of the first-half.

But in a five minute spell, Kilmarnock made the most of poor Hearts' defending to hit twice - first through Matty Kennedy and then through Kyle Vassell.

What did you make of that, Hearts fans? Were you impressed by some of the play, despite the result?

And where did it go wrong?

Let us know your thoughts, external.

Andrew Petrie
BBC Sport Scotland

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The honeymoon period is over for Neil Critchley.

The new head coach has lost his first game in charge of Hearts, but he might scratch his head and wonder how.

They enjoyed 70% possession, had 300 more accurate passes than their hosts, and spent 30% of the game in Kilmarnock's defensive third.

But there was a hesitancy within them. Spittal would lay the ball on a plate and his teammates would delay the shot, seemingly unsure which option to take.

Sometimes the best option is just to shoot. But the man who you'd trust to take the shot, Lawrence Shankland, is in the midst of a barren spell.

He has just one goal all season - one that bounced off him against Ross County. He's getting chances that five months ago he would've buried without thinking. Now he can't buy a goal.

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Blair Spittal. It's not often we mention players' on losing sides, but Spittal was instrumental in anything good Hearts did tonight. He has become the tempo dictator, their main creator, and the heartbeat of the team.

Malachi Boateng also deserves a mention. He was calm in midfield, winning the ball back and key to Hearts' impressive stats.

Unfortunately for the home side, they couldn't make the most of the chances they created.

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Hearts: Gordon, Forrester, Kent, Rowles, Penrice, Spittal, Boateng, Devlin, Forrest, Vargas, Shankland.

Substitutes: Clark, Kingsley, Halkett, Oyegoke, Grant, McKay, Dhanda, Wilson, Boyce.

Kilmarnock: McCrorie, Mayo, Wright, Deas, Ndaba, Armstrong, Lyons, Watson, Kennedy, Vassell, Watkins.

Substitutes: O'Hara, Burroughs, McKenzie, Mackay-Steven, Murray, Cameron, Anderson, Wales, Bainbridge.

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• Hearts have lost just one of their last seven Scottish Premiership games against Kilmarnock (W2 D4), keeping a clean sheet in three of their last four since a 2-1 defeat in April 2023.

• Kilmarnock have only lost one of their last nine Scottish Premiership visits to Hearts (W5 D3), although are winless in their last three (D2 L1).

• Hearts have lost just one of their last 15 home league games (W8 D6), going down 1-0 to Dundee United in September.

• Kilmarnock's Derek McInnes is winless in his last eight away games against Hearts in the Scottish Premiership (D4 L4) since a 2-1 victory with Aberdeen in May 2017.

• Neil Critchley is looking to become the first Hearts manager to win both of his first two Scottish Premiership home games in charge of the club since Robbie Neilson in August 2015.

So after three games Neil Critchley remains unbeaten as Hearts head coach. However, on Sunday at Easter Road he was given a true sense of where the club's issues have been this season.

Hearts had by far the most possession (63%) in the derby, but the inability to break down a vulnerable Hibs team indicates a lack of creativity in the final third.

The stats show Hearts had 11 shots, with nine of those coming inside the 18-yard box, however just two of those were on target and Hibs goalkeeper Josef Bursik was only called upon to make one save.

Digging deeper into the stats, the back four for Hearts had the most touches in the team by some considerable margin. Kye Rowles (109), James Penrice (96), Frankie Kent (75) and Daniel Oyegoke (70) were the ones staring the majority of the attacks.

In midfield, Malachi Boateng led the numbers with 62 touches while Yan Dhanda had just 31 touches and only 72.7% pass accuracy in his time on the pitch.

Hearts have looked more solid defensively in recent weeks, so it does appear that area of the pitch - which was problematic at the start of the campaign - has been resolved.

But it's the final third where games are won and this is undoubtedly where Critchley and his backroom team will align their focus for tonight's game against Kilmarnock.

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Hearts midfielder Beni Baningime could return after missing the last two matches through illness but Yutaro Oda, Gerald Taylor and Calem Nieuwenhof remain sidelined.

Kilmarnock midfielder Liam Donnelly is suspended while Stuart Findlay is out for seven to 10 days with a groin issue. Liam Polworth (calf) remains out, alongside long-term absentee Kyle Magennis.