Heart of Midlothian

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Hearts midfielder Yan Dhanda says he predicted his match-winning goal away to Dinamo Minsk in the Conference League.

The 25-year-old came off the bench to glance a header into the bottom corner with just seconds remaining, earning Hearts their first win of the season at the 11th time of asking.

"I said to Stephen Kingsley I was going to score when I got on," Dhanda said. "I just had a feeling I was going to score so I was just desperate to get on the pitch.

"I got myself in a good position, I knew where the goal was and I just glanced at the ball and it's gone in.

"It's the first header I've ever scored so I'm buzzing for that as well."

Dhanda believes Hearts have turned a corner under interim head coach Liam Fox, with a league draw at Ross County preceding the win over Dinamo.

"It's been a difficult couple of months," he said. "There are no two ways of saying that. We have had some difficult results but I think on Saturday against Ross County it was a positive step in the right direction.

“I know we should be winning but we came here with a bit of confidence from that game. We have our first win now so it's a positive step.

“We have to focus on ourselves but we have enough talent in that dressing room to climb up the league now."

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Hearts' dramatic late winner - and the celebrations that followed - against Dinamo Minsk in the Conference League showed how determined the players were to end their winless run, according to former defender Ryan McGowan.

Yan Dhanda's 94th-minute header secured managerless Hearts their first win of the season in their 11th outing, after an own goal from Sergey Politevich had brought the Scottish side level in Azerbaijan.

McGowan believes the fortunate nature of the own goal, and Dhanda's winner, are the type of moments that can create both belief and momentum.

"I think it just shows you the mentality of them," McGowan said on the Scottish Football Podcast. "Fans are so quick to label that they don't care or they down tools.

"I've never been in a dressing room that players have gone out and not cared or not wanted to perform.

"So I think the late goal shows they are hurting. Even the own goal, sometimes when you're struggling through the season, you're just praying that somebody does that.

"It gives you something because there was no spark and the guy has put a great header in. There's just those small things that can hopefully snowball, starting off with the league campaign."

Hearts now face Aberdeen - who have won every game in all competitions this season - at Pittodrie on Sunday, and McGowan says it will show the scale of Hearts' progress.

"It is a tricky situation for them - it's a seven or eight-hour flight from Azerbaijan straight to Aberdeen," he said.

"A massive game where know Aberdeen are absolutely flying. All this season they've been building momentum and winning games so it's going to be a real test for [Hearts] on Sunday."

Former Hearts, Dundee United and St Johnstone defender Ryan McGowan says non-Old Firm fans will have enjoyed Celtic and Rangers being given a "taste of their own medicine" by "taking a pasting" in Europe against teams with a bigger budget.

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We asked for your views after Hearts opened their Conference League campaign with a 2-1 win against Dinamo Minsk in Azerbaijan.

Here's what some of you said:

Gordon: Better from Hearts last night, not pretty on the eye but we looked more like our old selves again. Massive game Sunday and any momentum we can use will be huge, I'd take a draw now but if we can grind out another 2-1 win the season suddenly looks saveable again. Hopefully a new manager in for the St Mirren game and we go from there.

Chris: The performance certainly for me does not give any hope for the future. Up front we still created almost nothing and defensively are as tight as a sieve. Midfielders for most part were laughable and struggled. We scraped a very fortunate and undeserved victory against a side that looked almost as bad as us.

David: What a relief to finally get a win, our passing was really poor and set-pieces and final ball is not good enough, however a win is a win.

Paul: Yet again we are picking the wrong team and need to change our formation, we are picking players who are not up to the mark. We have a big squad but insist on using players that got us in this mess. I'm delighted to squeeze a win but the team we just played were ranked rotten. We seem to be clueless in the last third.

Colin: New manager and identity required as soon as possible. An unexpected win given the current form which is positive and perhaps the players can take some confidence. Too much deadwood in the team.

Kevo: Another building block, trying to do the right things, the final third was frustrating, a step back in the right direction overall.

Chris: We didn't play great, Barrie McKay in particular was awful but it doesn't matter. The history books will show the result. We deserved this, the players deserved this and the fans deserved this. Winning away in Europe is difficult and the players deserve a pat on the back for the result if not the performance. Enjoy your weekend Jambos!

Norrie: No matter what happens, Liam Fox has to be given massive credit for bringing in Forrester. Pity the Old Firm letting Scotland down!

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Frankie Kent hopes Hearts' late Conference League win over Dinamo Minsk can help the Tynecastle side leave their early-season troubles behind them.

Yan Dhanda headed home in the 94th minute to earn Hearts their first win of the season in their 12th outing in all competitions, and Kent says the overriding emotion is relief.

"Obviously we all know the start of this season hasn't been what we wanted and we all take responsibility for that," the defender told BBC Scotland.

"I think the main thing is just relief. It's done now.

"Hopefully our luck has changed now. You can see that from the goals we got tonight, hopefully it's all changed."

Kent says Hearts would be "silly" not to enjoy the victory after such a barren start to the season, but insists they will not get carried away going into their next game, away to high-flying Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership.

"We have to [enjoy it]," Kent added. "All the tension that's built up over the past 10 or 11 games, it's been tough to get through.

"It's up to us now. We have got to show good fight and desire to carry on and do it on Sunday [against Aberdeen].

"We don't want to go into the game too high but what we have gone through in the first bit of the season, the 10 games or so and you win a game like this, we have to enjoy it. You would be silly not to."

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Hearts interim boss Liam Fox dedicated the 2-1 Conference League win over Dinamo Minsk in Azerbaijan behind closed doors to the Tynecastle supporters who were locked out of the game. (Record), external

Yan Dhanda's late goal meant Hearts will pocket £335,000 for their win. (Scotsman - subscription), external

Read Friday's Scottish gossip

Hearts interim manager Liam Fox: "I'm absolutely over the moon for the players and the supporters.

"The pitch wasn't great, there's no supporters, - you've got to give credit to the opponent - you're playing some really good players, but what pleased me the most was the players hung in.

"There were some decent wee moments, probably not as much as I'd like but to hang in, it can sometimes take you a long way.

"We weren't great tonight, we had a couple of wee moments. But when you're down there, you just need to keep working and keep believing it's going to turn.

"Hopefully, this is the start, hopefully it's a wee shot in the arm."

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Yan Dhanda’s 94th-minute header gave managerless Hearts a Conference League win over Dinamo Minsk and brought to an end their dreadful run of form.

It looked certain that Hearts’ troubles were set to continue - having gone winless in their previous 10 games - after last Saturday’s draw with Ross County confirmed their worst ever start to a season.

What did you make of the performance, Hearts fans? Did it give you hope for the future?

Let us know your thoughts here., external

Andrew Petrie
BBC Sport Scotland

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This would have been a wildly frustrating night for Hearts fans and staff alike.

Once again, they were up against a team in Europe that seemed entirely beatable. Yet, the answer to the enigma seemed ungraspable for the players on the pitch.

Another low-block that Hearts struggled to break down, more vulnerable defending. It has all become far too common a sight for Hearts fans this season.

Forrest was particularly guilty for his part in Dinamo's goal. Barrie McKay had one of his worst nights in a Hearts shirt.

But interim head coach Liam Fox has once again produced a positive result in the dying seconds. Be it luck or an extra little bit of belief, Hearts have pulled a rabbit out of the hat in the last few seconds for the second game running.

Can they do it at Aberdeen on Sunday? The history book suggests not.

The international break after that game comes at a good time and having a permanent manager appointed when league football returns in late October is essential.

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Beni Baningime. The midfielder was good at breaking up play and distributing - the problems started when the ball was out wide.

However, Baningime has added a bit more grit to the Hearts midfield since he's returned from injury and has allowed Cammy Devlin and Blair Spittal a little more licence to get forward.

A mention for young Adam Forrester at right-back, too. The 19-year-old is athletic, gets up and down well and runs all day. He's only two games into his first-team career and looks solid.

Dinamo Minsk: Lapoukhov, Pigas, Politevich, Sachivko, Rai Lopes, Amian, Kalinin, Demchenko, Podstrelov, Zherdev, Alfred.

Substitutes: Karatai, Okoro, Gavrilovich, Budzko, Selyava, Khvaschinski, Adeola, Kulikov, Pedro Igor, Begunov, Shkolik, Melnichenko.

Hearts: Gordon, Forrester, Kent, Rowles, Penrice, Devlin, Baningime, Spittal, Forrest, McKay, Shankland.

Substitutes: Clark, Kingsley, Halkett, Oyegoke, Grant, Oda, Boateng, Dhanda, Tait, Boyce, Vargas, Salazar.

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Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter in Azerbaijan

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Its just over 3,300 miles from Gorgie to Sumqayit here in Azerbaijan where Hearts will begin their Uefa Conference League campaign this evening but I'm sure the players will be able to hear the noise should Lawrence Shankland, or any of his colleagues, score the goal that would give them their first win of the season.

Unfortunately for the Gorgie faithful the game will be played behind closed doors due to Uefa rules regarding teams from Belarus competing in their competitions.

Baku itself, where the team have been based for the last two days, is a city brimming with history but visibly pushing itself into becoming a modern environment.

The skyline shows new hotels lit up at night in the colours of the country but in the city centre itself there are indications of days gone by with walls surrounding many of the historical parts.

The road on the way to Sumqayit on Wednesday evening was something to behold. Thousands of cars making their way out of the city. Not sure where to but it seemed the 40-odd mile distance from the capital was a constant gridlock of motors.

It wasn’t helped I'm sure by the sheep farmer deciding to move his flock on the outside lane at one point. Not sure they would allow this on the Edinburgh city bypass.

However, all that matters tonight for Hearts is to somehow get the win that would kickstart their season.

And it could just happen here in Azerbaijan. Who says football isn't bonkers?

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Football analyst John Walker says that while Hearts must be wary of Dinamo Minsk's threats, the Tynecastle side are more than capable of making a winning start in the Conference League in Azerbaijan.

Walker has been taking a look at Minsk's threats on the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"They've got Boni Amian, an Ivory Coast midfielder who's on loan," he said.

"He's really, really fast breaking from centre midfield. He's got lots of energy. I quite like him.

"He maybe not as technically gifted, if he was, he'd probably be playing in a higher league than the Belarussian league just now.

"But I do think as a team Hearts can go and genuinely win. As much as Hearts are out of form, they've got better players across the park.

"From what I've seen in the Ross County game, albeit only the highlights, a lot of what Hearts like to do is down the sides and getting crosses in from Stephen Kingsley. Lawrence Shankland is also a real threat in the air."

Former midfielder Ryan Stevenson says a win in the closed-door match is a must for Hearts to turn their season around.

"Maybe having no fans there might help them," Stevenson said.

"But the situation Hearts are in right now it doesn't matter if there's 10 fans in there or 10,000, Hearts just somehow need to muster a win."

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland in Azerbaijan

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Hearts' head coach shortlist features "some really good candidates" amid a "fascinating" recruitment process, says CEO Andrew McKinlay.

The vacancy has attracted "huge interest", with Hearts – working in conjunction with an analytics company - receiving over 100 notes of interest before choosing eight applicants for consideration.

The likes of Derek McInnes, Stephen Robinson and Tony Docherty have been linked with the role, but McKinlay says Hearts are "are looking for someone maybe a bit different".

On how Hearts are conducting the managerial search with the analytics company, he said: “There is a mix. It's not so much the analytical company have come up with the list. We have put to them some from a list that we had put together ourselves.

"It's not just those that have approached us. There are others who we think we would like to speak to. You then find out if they are interested, some might not be, so they may not have applied, but when you pique their interest then they think it may be of interest.

"Then the analytics company may have a few other names as well. It's misunderstood, this, as it’s not just a case of them just churning out a name and we go, ‘Oh no, that’s not a name we want.

"That's not the way it works. It's a collaborative piece. The analytics also only take you so far. You then have to look at is this someone who will work within a sporting director environment? Is this someone who will work with analytics going forward which is very important to us?"