Ross County boss Derek Adams believes his side "murdered" Heart of Midlothian in the first half of the 2-2 draw at Tynecastle Park and "deserved to win".

The Staggies took a two-nil lead in the second half but only walked away with a point after Hearts hit back through Kenneth Vargas and Lawrence Shankland.

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"We murdered them in the first half," he said. "We had so many good opportunities in the game. The way we played, the way we passed the ball, the way we opened them up.

"It was a fantastic performance. Look at the chances we created, the chances we could have scored, the goals we did score. A great goal from Sims, a great goal from Yan. Over the afternoon we were the better team, in my view. I know nobody cares about my view but I’m giving my view and I thought we were very, very good today."

He added: "You’re coming up against a team that’s third in the league. That’s what you get with them and the players they have. We didn’t take our chances when we had them. We had so many good opportunities in the game and we could have been two or three up at half time.

"Over the afternoon I thought we deserved to win the game. The fourth official made a mistake at 2-1."

Adams was irate after the second goal. He was trying to make a double substitution at the time and claimed the fourth official had told referee Alan Muir to stop the game after one sub had been made.

"We were putting on two substitutes and unfortunately the referee restarted the game when one of our substitutes was on and our other one wasn’t allowed to come on because the referee had started the game.

"That was hugely disappointing because the goal came straight after that. I’m going to speak to them and ask them to explain what happened. I know what he said to me at the time but we all know there’s a little black box that’s recorded and I would like to hear back what was said in that little black box. They will use it against a manager, but unfortunately, you will have to use it against yourself at some point.

"He was shouting for Alan Muir to stop the game for us to make another sub. We were making two substitutions at the time. The little black box will tell us if that’s the case."

Adams was asked if the situation contributed to the equalising goal.

"I can’t say that," he said. "I don’t think it did. But it confused the referee. In the end they have made a huge error and it hasn’t helped us. But over the afternoon I think we were very good and we deserved to win."