“We expected a tough match and that is exactly what we got.

“There was total dominance from us in the first half when there was good tempo in our play and we asked loads of questions. I had a forced change at half-time as we couldn’t stop the bleeding with Mark Reynolds but we just wanted more of the same.

“We felt that the goal was coming, Adam should have done better with a couple of chances and then Hearts had a good spell where they showed their attacking threat and showed what they are capable of.

“Juanma has a good chance and Danny Ward makes a good save. He was offside for the chance but Danny Ward has still made a brilliant save. Willo has done his job from a set-piece clearing it off the line. Set-plays were always going to be a bit of a concern for us with Hearts size and at that stage the game looked far more evenly matched.

“Just when the game was running out we put Goodwillie on to try and get two strikers and make the go our way again. Although young Jordan, who had a good game, has made a mistake I think Goodwillie’s presence has maybe just spooked him a wee bit and it’s a real bonus for us.

“Sometimes tight games are decided by fine margins, sometimes it’s a real bit of quality and sometimes it’s a mistake, today it has went for us. Adam has handled the pressure and overall I think we deserved to get the three points.

“We showed maturity to keep going. The game was a bit too stop-start for me, it was a really difficult game to manage for the referee and we never had the same fluency in the second half. We always back ourselves to win a game and we have shown in the past that we can win tight matches just when it looks as if we are not going to win. The players deserve a lot of credit for that.

“There is a healthy respect between both teams. We recognise that Hearts don’t often not score. They are a good team, I thought we were just slightly better today.

“We enjoyed today and we are on a mini-run at the moment. We have shown in the past that we are capable of these types of runs and I just want to keep it going.

“There were five or six games where we were getting dominated and bullied at times and we have certainly shown in the last two or three games a determination not to let that be the case. We stood up for ourselves today and I have no problems with the nature of the game.

“Niall was close but he never responded to treatment the same way as he did last week. We have got to be fair to him. He never trained last week and he never trained this week and it’s not right just trying to manage him game to game. By missing today it gives him a real possibility of being fit for next week and we expect him to be ready for Kilmarnock now.”

“Niall was close but he never responded to treatment the same way as he did last week. We have got to be fair to him. He never trained last week and he never trained this week and it’s not right just trying to manage him game to game. By missing today it gives him a real possibility of being fit for next week and we expect him to be ready for Kilmarnock now.”