Hearts duo step up as Naismith's men sit pretty in third

Steven Naismith's men struggled in the first half in West Lothian but stepped it up after the break. Despite Lawrence Shankland missing a penalty, Kenneth Vargas opened the scoring before Shankland doubled the lead. Livingston would get a spot kick of their own which was scored by Andrew Shinnie. It set up a nervy finale but the team held on for the three points.

READ MORE: What Hearts fans can expect in the January transfer window: Priority and Shankland

Sitting pretty

There we have it, Hearts sit third in the Premiership at the winter break with a five-point lead. The last two months have been very fruitful with just two defeats in the league since the end of October.

It has not always been pretty - as we will talk about - but there is no doubt this is a team that is making steady progress under Steven Naismith. Hearts have made positive steps in different areas of the pitch and it remains a work in progress but they have a brilliant foundation to build on after the break, especially with a fixture list that offers plenty of opportunity when the team return to action following the Scottish Cup clash with The Spartans.

Hearts given Livi wake-up call

If you were unaware of what was happening in the Scottish Premiership but wandered along to the Tony Macaroni Stadium on Tuesday afternoon and then asked to pick the side which was winless in 12 and bottom of the table, there is a very good chance you would have chosen Hearts. It was especially evident in the first half where Livingston settled better and unsettled the visitors.

They were direct, switched on and reacted better, targeting the right-hand side of Hearts. It should also be said that as well as the battling qualities they took care of the ball much better as well. Zander Clark made an early save and later Guthrie had the ball in the back of the net. Both chances were ultimately offside but it was the second incident which summed up the difference between the sides. The ball had gone out for a throw-in. Livi were awake and Hearts were asleep. Andrew Shinnie was able to take it quickly, creating a 2v1 with a cross able to come in with little pressure and Guthrie glanced it into the back of the net, albeit having come back from an offside position.

It should have been a wake-up call for Hearts. It didn't have the desired effect. Too often Steven Naismith's side were loose with their passing or lackadaisical in the manner of their play, only really threatening towards the end of the half.

Two Livingston fans at half-time were in agreement, both uttering the phrase "much better" at the same time. Seeing their performance you can only wonder how they could have been so poor for so long in the league. That being said, Hearts contributed to that with their own failings.

Slow start before Hearts turn tables 

The opening 45 minutes in West Lothian were eerily similar to Hearts’ games at the very start of the season, when the men in maroon were consistently slow out of the traps. Naismith’s side were a tad one-dimensional in the first half at the Tony Macaroni, often relying on hopeful long balls from deep for Alan Forrest and Kenneth Vargas to chase that never came off.  

The interval came at a good time for Hearts, who had looked decidedly off the pace up until that point. And whatever it was that Naismith told his players at the break, they clearly took it to heart.  

Hearts came out for the second half with a renewed sense of purpose. The plan was still to exploit the space in behind Livingston’s high line, but the visitors were slightly less direct now. Rather than the centre-backs shelling it long, now they would look to switch the ball first before it was drilled forward for Forrest and Vargas to go haring after it. 

The effect was almost instantaneous. For the next 20 minutes or so, Hearts found themselves in the ascendancy. Vargas and Shankland capitalised by getting on the scoresheet, and the Hearts captain also missed a penalty in the one spell of the game where the hosts were looking a bit rattled.  

Hearts’ dominance wouldn’t last forever but by the time Livi got to grips with the game once again, the damage had already been done and they were trailing by two goals. The momentum wasn’t behind Hearts for long, but they took full advantage when it was theirs. 

The sluggish start won’t have pleased Naismith – but the players’ response will have.

Forwards step up

There has been plenty of discussion on the reliance on Lawrence Shankland. Understandably so given he has scored more than the rest of the team combined going into the game. He came closest to scoring in the first half when he flicked a header onto the bar and after the interval, for the second time in the league, the Hearts No.9 missed from the spot. 

Thankfully for Hearts, they had two forwards who provided Shankland with some assistance. The first of those was Alan Forrest. He was the team's best and brightest park. Everything that was good about the away side involved him. The former Livi star provided a great pass for Kenneth Vargas in the first 45. After the interval, it was his brilliant run in behind and across the Livi defence which got him on the blindside of Mikey Devlin to reach Alex Cochrane's pass before being brought down for the penalty. Moments later he took the game by the scruff of the neck once more, getting goal side of the Livi midfield and sliding Vargas in behind to open the scoring. 

The Costa Rican was the other Hearts forward who showed quality. The team were keen to try and play him in behind the Livi backline in the opening stages. Frankie Kent especially sought to get his head up and clip a ball into his vicinity to chase. While not much came off for the 21-year-old in the opening 45 minutes, he was a willing runner and wanted to get involved and stretch the opposition. He fired one shot high over.

After the break, he was a menace on the left-hand side of the attack. The first chance saw him dribble past two opponents, onto his right, but his arrowed shot just went past the post. He then opened the scoring with a calm and composed finish not too dissimilar to his strike against Ross County.

He is a young player who has taken time to fully settle in Scottish football but it looks like he might well have done.

Shankland stats

Now it is only fair to mention Lawrence Shankland. He was always going to score, wasn't he?

The striker was manhandled. He missed a penalty. And he was no doubt frustrated in the first half when he barely saw the ball. But what a finish for the second goal. It shows the player's character. It might not be going for him but he still has that steely determination and calmness to take a chance when it comes to him once more.

It's the sixth game in succession he has found the back of the net, scoring seven in total. It is 13 in his last 14 for Hearts since his goal drought earlier in the season. He is on 18 for the season and will no doubt be on 20 by the end of January.

Mixed bag for fringe players 

With Kye Rowles and Nathaniel Atkinson off to Qatar for the Asian Cup, and a few first-team regulars sidelined with injury, this was always going to be an opportunity for Hearts’ fringe players to stake a claim for more game time.  

Naismith made five changes to the team that drew 2-2 with Ross County at the weekend, and the two most notable inclusions were Toby Sibbick and Peter Haring. The former has struggled for minutes since Atkinson returned to the starting line-up, while the latter had barely kicked a ball for Hearts this term. 

Neither Sibbick nor Haring made much of an impact in the opening 45 minutes, but the same could be said for just about each and every one of the visitors’ starting XI. Haring was making some decent runs off the ball but looked ropey with it, while Sibbick didn’t look comfortable in his running battle with James Penrice. Livingston were constantly looking to launch the ball towards the left wing-back, and with good reason: more often than not, he had the beating of the versatile Hearts defender. 

There were, however, little flashes from both players after the break. Haring was looking more like his old self in possession, launching a few attacks with an expertly threaded through ball, while Sibbick was now keeping Penrice quiet. The defender’s distribution improved too – it was Sibbick’s drilled pass that sent Alan Forrest scurrying through on goal when the attacker won a penalty at the start of the second half. 

Both players were understandably rusty - and neither will be pleased with their first-half performances - but Naismith will be encouraged that they grew into the game. Haring has watched academy players like Aidan Denholm and Macaulay Tait nick ahead of him in Hearts’ pecking order in recent weeks, but the Austrian showed against Livi that he might just have a role to play between now and the end of the season after all.