Criminal defending costly

Hearts boss John McGlynn despaired at his side's "criminal" defending as the Jambos fell to a 3-2 defeat to 2nd placed Inverness Caledonian Thistle at Tynecastle.

Despite clawing back to level the match twice through Jason Holt and Andy Webster, Hearts eventually lost out to 3 headers, 2 from defender Gary Warren and 1 from SPL top scorer Billy McKay, and it was the manner of the goals conceded that angered John most of all as he reflected on proceedings at his post-match press conference.

"You've got to be disappointed with the goals we lost. Anyone could see the goals we lost today were criminal. We've played some great football to get back into the game", said the gaffer.

"We're having to fight hard to get back into the game each time, and then we just gift them their goals from three set pieces."

When questioned on the possibility of his players losing their concentration, John admitted that may have been a factor in the concession of such poor goals.

"We have a man-to-man marking system, and one player has lost their centre-half twice", explained John. "I won't name who the player is because we have to stick together at the moment. I won't hang anyone out to dry.

"The whole team defends set pieces, not just the centre-halves. In open play, we were never cut open or exposed. We were assured and comfortable."

Finally, with Michael Ngoo collecting possibly the quickest yellow card in SPL history in under 10 seconds, the manager was asked if he thought that had curtailed the on-loan hitman's effectiveness, but John felt that Michael still performed well despite being handicapped with a booking.

"He was still a handful. I'm not sure if that was a tactic from Inverness to rile him up, but I thought he was still effective. He was still difficult to tie down and he contributed a lot to the game.

"Jason Holt scored a great goal too, and he can be happy with his performance."

Hearts World