St Mirren 1 Hearts 0: Instant reaction to the burning issues

The home side took the lead on seven minutes at the SMiSA Stadium as the Buddies took full advantage of indecision at the back from Hearts. A simple cross somehow evaded both Frankie Kent and Zander Clark, and the unmarked St Mirren right wing-back Ryan Strain had all the time in the world to slot the ball home.

READ MORE: Naismith has say on slow start, away form and Devlin role - Full Q&A

The contest finished in a 1-0 defeat for Hearts but in truth, it could have been a lot worse. Three times St Mirren found the net, only for the goal to be chopped off, and Hearts were fairly toothless at the other end, too.

Here are four things we learned from an intriguing encounter in Paisley.

Hearts deja vu (JS)

Hearts are going to make it very difficult for themselves this season if they persist with starting games in a lacklustre manner. They have been prone to offering little to no attacking threat in the first half of games. It was a similar story in Paisley. At the interval, the stats showed that the visitors had 68 per cent of possession and just two shots with a combined 0.21xG to show for it. In simple terms, loads of the ball but absolutely nothing to show for it. Those in the away end travelled in big numbers may well have been suffering a serious case of deja vu. 

What are the chances of winning games when you fail to perform for 30-45 minutes and even longer as has been the case on a couple of occasions this season? Especially against Robinson. The Buddies are notorious, especially at home, for being robust, dogged and extremely well organised. Giving them time to settle into their way of playing makes it difficult. But add in the concession of a goal so cheap it would exist in a bargain basement offering at a till, the task becomes abundantly more tricky. There was only a short spell in the second half when Hearts put St Mirren under any sort of pressure. Far from what is acceptable for a club who have been open about a desire to be competing in European group stage football on a regular basis.

 Naismith has spoken of the physical and mental fatigue after European excursions but that was not the case against St Mirren. The team had the full week to prepare with  Naismith talking about the benefit of having that time on the training ground, calling it "important".

The persistence of the issue suggests that it may be a mental or attitude factor. The team are too safe in their passing, possession play lacks intensity and there is also a lack of aggression. This is a team which is currently falling short. Way short.

Olusanya makes his presence felt (JC)

Robinson’s side have a well-earned reputation as one of the Premiership’s more physically demanding teams to play against, and perhaps no one characterised that aggressive approach more than centre-forward Olutoysi Olusanya.

The bustling striker was causing Hearts all sorts of problems from the get-go. Ball after ball was launched in behind the visitors’ defence, and neither Kent nor Kye Rowles could match Olusanya’s pace. More concerningly, though, the St Mirren man was regularly muscling opponents off the ball with apparent ease.

Rowles, in particular, looked very uncomfortable. The Australian put in an assured performance against Aberdeen last week but struggled to cope with the bustling Olusanya. When the striker barged past the Hearts man midway through the first half to drive menacingly at goal, St Mirren could have easily grabbed their second of the afternoon. Clark just about prevented a second goal for the home side in the subsequent scramble in the box, but it was all too easy for Olusanya. When he was subbed off around the hour mark, the Hearts defenders could be forgiven for breathing a collective sigh of relief.

Shankland shackled (JS)

Lawrence Shankland has gone five games without finding the back of the net for Hearts. It is just the second time since joining the club he has gone as long without scoring. The last occasion included two games against Fiorentina and one against Rangers. It was a fixture where he was on the periphery of proceedings for large parts. By half-time his touch count was the same as Clark.

The team struggled to get him involved. With Liam Boyce in a deeper role more of the player centred around the Northern Irishman. This pushed the captain higher up the pitch. Shankland has spoken before of the difficulty of playing against a St Mirren defence which sits deep and gives up little space. There were times he was lost amongst black and white shirts, Alex Gogic and Marcus Fraser sticking particularly close. No better example than a through ball late on when the striker just couldn't shrug off the Cypriot.

During his time at Tynecastle Shankland has displayed a strong quality at helping build the team's play in the final third. On days where that influence has not been as strong, there is always the other side of his game. The ability to plunder goals. That becomes very hard to do when the team fails to create sufficient chances. In the warm-up the team were working on play down the side and crossing into the box. Hearts didn't get into too many dangerous areas to cross or cut-back, i.e. down the side and behind the Buddies backline. Those crosses that did go into the box, there was a 23 per cent success rate. When the chance did come late, late on he was thwarted by Zach Hemming, missing a chance which you would normally expect him to tuck away.

If that didn't sum up a difficult afternoon, moments earlier when he slipped by the sideline much to the home side's delight certainly did.

Beni’s back (JC)

When the Hearts team was announced, a few eyebrows shot up at Beni Baningime’s inclusion. The midfielder had played just 45 minutes of football this term – a disastrous showing away to Rosenborg where he was hooked at the break – but the former Everton player was more like his old self in Paisley.

Neither Baningime nor his midfield partner Calem Nieuwenhof have played much football this term and although the former was understandably a bit rusty early on, he soon settled into the game. Baningime saw a lot of the ball until he was subbed off around the hour-mark but coped well with St Mirren’s relentless pressing. He often found himself taking the ball under pressure but had the composure and wherewithal to evade his marker or find a team-mate with a pass more often than not.

Baningime’s return necessitated a change in position for Cammy Devlin, who found himself out on the right wing for much of the game. He didn’t see too much of the ball in the end as Hearts were mainly focusing their play down the left to Stephen Kingsley and Kenneth Vargas.

There remain question marks over the Australian’s suitability for the position. Devlin didn’t contribute much in an attacking sense, barring a one-on-one with 20 minutes to go that Zach Hemming tipped wide of the far post, and his deployment in that area of the park felt a little like forcing a square peg into a round hole.