Derek McInnes says Hearts ‘guilty of giving up control’ in Livingston draw

Derek McInnes rued the way sloppy Hearts relinquished their sense of “authority” after being held to a 2-2 draw by bottom side Livingston.

The Jambos ended the weekend a point clear of Rangers at the top of the William Hill Premiership, but the leaders were frustrated at slipping up in a fourth away game in succession.

Backed by 7,000 travelling supporters at Almondvale, Hearts were stunned early on when Stevie May fired Livi ahead. But the Edinburgh side soon clicked into gear and got themselves in front through goals from Lawrence Shankland and Claudio Braga.

McInnes was pleased with the way his team were playing until Craig Halkett’s pass to Islam Chesnokov was intercepted, leading to Lewis Smith equalising in the 58th minute.

Hearts’ frustration was compounded in stoppage time as Marc Leonard was sent off for denying Robbie Muirhead a goal-scoring opportunity.

“Absolutely two points dropped,” was boss McInnes’ verdict. “We lost two really poor goals. We came here with a lot of motivation, the fans turned up and I thought we looked ready for that.

“That first goal rocked us a wee bit, but the response was good. There were times in the first half where we looked back to our attacking threat and I thought the start of the second half we were really strong.

“We get the goal and we’re in charge of the game. Particularly at that time, we looked like a team at the top of the league. We were so polished and clean and efficient.

“We should just be looking after the ball and staying in charge of the game, but we were guilty of giving up that control and authority.

“When you lose the goal, even with half-an-hour to go, psychologically it changes because we then have to try and go again. Livingston then, as a team at the bottom of the league, have something to hang on to.

“We go from being really strong and looking like the team we need to be, to a team that was really loose and, ultimately, Livingston get the point they deserved.”

McInnes praised captain Shankland for a “terrific” display on his first start since January following injury.

“The positives are Lawrence has got 90 minutes, Cammy (Devlin) has played near enough 90 minutes and we go top of the league – I keep needing to remind myself that, that we go top of the league with six games to go,” he said.

“We’re still in a strong position. We’ve now got three games at home of the last six, but there’s no doubting that the next time we go away from home, we’re going to have to make sure we defend a lot better than we did today.”

Livi are 11 points adrift at the bottom and without a win since August, but boss Marvin Bartley said: “I thought the boys were brilliant today.

“I said to them before the game, it was all about Hearts coming here with 7,000 fans and we were going to be the also-rans, and I said, ‘Make sure that doesn’t happen’.

“They did that and, towards the end, we’re trying to push for that winner.”