Scotland-bound Nicky Devlin signed off for the international break not just with another win for the Dons, but with his third goal of the season, a crucial strike that got Aberdeen back on terms against Hearts. Even so, he was realistic about the performance of the side.

“I don’t think we were great, to be honest. We’ve maybe done that a couple of times this year, but the resolve, the attitude of the players, we managed to find a way and we’ve done that again today.

“When the second goal went in, right after they went in front, that swung the momentum probably back with us and then the kind of boys that came on, I thought they were brilliant. They kind of gave us an extra wee lift, an injection of pace when we maybe needed it in the game.

“Shayden’s been doing it all season, to be honest. It’s probably harsh on him that he finds himself not starting at the minute, but the impact he makes when he’s been coming on in games has been phenomenal.

“Duk, I’m delighted for him because he’s had to work hard, he’s obviously had his problems, but if we can get that kind of Duk between now and the end of the season then we’ve got an unbelievable player. The impact he had on the game was massive, he was the reason the boy got sent off. I think the other full-back that came on got booked against him and then he does so well to set up the winning goal.

“We try and take confidence from the way we have started the season into the next run of games after the break. We know we can get better, and that’s exciting as well. I’ve never won this many games in a row, I think at Livingston we went 14 games unbeaten the year we got to the cup final, but it wasn’t win after win after win, so the amount of wins we’ve had this year, it’s been a phenomenal start. It’s been a good start, but we have to keep it going.”