The key Hearts characteristics behind excellent run of form

Normally, a defiant sing-song and blast of encouragement would soon be forgotten, replaced by agitation and frustration. Groans at backward and sideways passes. It wouldn't be long before a few grumbles would grow louder as supporters voiced their displeasure and got on players' backs. For some, they would give it until the hour mark and then head for the pub.

We've all been there following Hearts on the road. Rather than let the team take up more of your Saturday, why not enjoy the public houses of Paisley or Perth, Dundee or Kilmarnock. Who can remember the swift exit after 25 minutes following the concession of three goals as Chris Burke ran riot?

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This Hearts team are bucking a trend and Dundee demonstrated the latest area of growth. 

We have seen it with the away results. Following Saturday's success, it is now eight league wins on the road. The only two top-flight seasons in the last 30-odd years to have brought more victories away from Tynecastle Park came in 1998/99 and 2010/11. The latter season was the last time Hearts won four successive Premiership away games, as per the club's Twitter.

More than the away form, there is a strong mentality being developed. The team have resilience and character in abundance. These intangible qualities are buzzwords in football. At times you are reluctant to use them because they are not really quantifiable and they can often swing wildly.

After all, the mentality, resilience and character were being questioned following the 2-1 defeat to Aberdeen at Pittodrie. But it is that game and what has happened since that suggests these qualities have grown within the Hearts squad. There was introspection in the dressing room after that match and meaningful conversations when analysing the game on the Monday.

Steven Naismith is measured when discussing how games have transpired in the aftermath, no matter the outcome. On that occasion, he spoke of his team being bullied.

There have been a few key moments in the season for Hearts. The defeat to Celtic at Tynecastle Park that, along with an issue at right-back, prompted a switch to the back three. Lawrence Shankland's goal in that match, breaking a run of seven league games without a goal. And that Aberdeen defeat. It was as if a line in the sand was drawn. A message of: That doesn't happen again.

It was the third occasion where the team had dropped points from a winning position. All three were big games. Home to Hibs, away to Rangers and then at Pittodrie. Since then, Hearts have not lost points from a winning position. They have been in the lead 17 times across the league campaign, they've won 14 games. Only Celtic and Rangers have a greater percentage of points won from being in front. Then you have Dundee who have dropped a mammoth 17 points from winning positions — six of those against Hearts.

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That leads nicely onto the flipside. Gaining points from losing positions.

Up until very recently, Hearts had been ineffective when going behind. For a large part of the season, there was a concern when the team fell behind because they were not productive enough in front of goal. In the first 17 league games, Naismith's men scored one or no goals on 12 occasions. They had to get ahead in games to give themselves a chance of winning. During that spell, they went behind in seven games and lost all seven.

In the last seven fixtures, they have scored two or more in six. In addition to that, in the three games they have gone behind in, they are unbeaten, earning seven points.

Ideally, Hearts won't fall behind and the recent trend of going behind or playing poorly in the first half is no more than a short-lived fad. After all, it is not a great strategy to reduce a game to 45 minutes. 

But the crowd's reaction to going behind and waiting nearly an hour to draw level may demonstrate an increased trust and patience with the team. It was certainly a marked difference to the boos that greeted half-time of the home game against Dundee when the team found themselves 2-0 down at the interval. Of course, the expectations, environment and atmosphere are noticeably different between home and away games. There is more patience from the traveling fan.

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More than anything, however, there was no sense of panic. When McGhee scored with 26 minutes on the clock. It felt like the collective stance was largely 'don't worry, we've still got 64 minutes to turn this around' rather than resigning themselves to a defeat. 

That can be seen on the pitch as well. 

"The big thing that we have built over time is our resilience and our character," Naismith said. "We don’t change, we continue to keep moving the ball and working opportunities rather than getting sucked into going direct."

There will be some within the support who would want a bit more urgency at times but the results speak for themselves. Hearts continued to probe against Dundee, looking at different avenues of attack, as detailed by James Cairney in his tactical breakdown of the victory. 

Developing the qualities of being able to hold onto the lead when going in front but also being able to win points after going behind is a deadly combination. 

It speaks to the mentality of the squad, that resilience and character. Don't panic, don't stress and trust in the strategy and the quality of the team. Hearts benefit from a strong, malleable squad that can be tweaked and can adapt to different situations and scenarios.

In these past few months, they have often led to the one outcome: A Hearts win.