Derek McInnes warns Hearts not to drop their standards during title challenge

Derek McInnes told his Hearts players they cannot afford any more performances like the one they delivered against Kilmarnock if they are serious about maintaining their William Hill Premiership title challenge.

The Jambos’ advantage at the top of the William Hill Premiership is down to two points after they lost 1-0 at Rugby Park on Saturday night, a few hours after second-placed Celtic defeated Motherwell.

Michael Schjonning-Larsen’s first-half goal proved decisive for Killie, who held firm thereafter to move nine points clear of bottom side Livingston and level with 10th-placed St Mirren.

“Kilmarnock started the game far better than us,” said McInnes, who revealed midfielder Tomas Magnusson had gone off with a suspected fractured cheekbone. “I thought they were sharper to the ball, they were more aggressive than us.

“There was so much wrong about the goal in terms of the lead-up to it, not enough pressure on the ball and having a Kilmarnock player standing free in our box when we’ve got enough bodies back there. It’s just a poor goal to lose.

“You’ve got to compliment Kilmarnock, they scrapped and fought for everything to get their win. Our efforts tonight weren’t enough. We didn’t show enough quality. I thought one or two looked a bit leggy.

“There were certainly one or two who were really off it. And players who have done so well and represented our club brilliantly this season. So I’m not going to start being too harsh on them and starting to get a bit too aggressive with all that side of it.

“But I think we’ve got to remind ourselves about what needs to get done when you come away from home in the Scottish Premiership. You’ve got to compete better than we did in the early part of the game. We need to get our three points next week now (against Dundee) and move on from it.

“But I think when you wake up tomorrow morning, every manager in the league, every supporter in the league would want to wake up and be top of the league. And we’re going to be doing that going into next Saturday’s game. And hopefully the response is what it normally is by winning the game next Saturday.”

Killie manager Neil McCann was delighted at the way his team bounced back from losing 5-1 to Falkirk in their previous match.

“I’m very proud of that performance,” said McCann. “As a coaching team we’ve worked really hard in the time since the Falkirk defeat to put a lot of information into the team.

“We got a sensational goal and we might have had one or two more, but I’m just proud of the reaction because I believed the Falkirk game was a blip and I think beating the league leaders is evidence that my belief is right.”