Lawrence Shankland welcomes vital Hearts plus in Euro hunt as captain has no uncertainty after 'miles away' performance

Lawrence Shankland knows Hearts were nowhere near their best on Saturday – but reckons the point gained with his last-gasp spot-kick could be one of the most crucial of the season.

Snatching a 2-2 draw from 2-0 down at the break – and scoring the leveller while down to 10 men – has given Steven Naismith’s side a huge boost ahead next week’s visit of third-placed Aberdeen. That’s a match Hearts have to win and their captain, who netted his 26th goal of the season, knows they’ll have to play better but show the same fighting spirit.

He said: “The point keeps us still in the hunt so nothing’s changed and there are still three games to go. When it comes to this stage of the season it’s important that you get results and this draw may mean the difference between playing in Europe next season or not.

“If you come away from home and don’t play your best – and, being honest, we didn’t – but still take a point from the game then sometimes you just need to accept that and move on to the next game.

“We know we were miles away from where we should be in that first half but at least we improved after that and did enough to get the draw. However, we know we’ll need to be better than that in the remaining games.”

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