Neil Critchley insists Hearts aren't creeping towards a crisis as he shuns the C word for a more important letter

Neil Critchley’s team may be mired at the foot of the Premiership in a battle but the Hearts manager has dismissed any suggestion that the club is edging closer to catastrophe with every game that ticks by.

Adamant that there is still plenty of time to rectify matters, he insists that morale is high and, with performances on the up, he believes the team are on the same trajectory. We’re not even halfway through the season, so while others might use the words, it’s a crisis, I’m just focusing on the next game,” he explained.

“Since we joined the club, in the past two months we’ve seen improvement in terms of our performances and now we’ve got a period of games coming up that we need to start putting some Ws on the board. It’s an important period, both domestically and in Europe. We have a chance to build and things could look significantly different in a few weeks’ time.”

After a tough run of fixtures, picking up just one point from nine against the league’s top three sides, Celtic, Aberdeen and Rangers, they now have the opportunity to start pegging back the teams currently standing between them and a spot in the top six, starting with Dundee, at Tynecastle this afternoon.

While the fans in the stands are all too aware of Hearts’ precarious league position, Critchley says there are better things to focus on, as he attempts to steer his men through a congested December. Honestly I don’t look at the table because I can’t affect the table. I can affect how the players train, how we prepare, and work on improving the individuals, improving the team and if we do that then the results will take care of itself and ultimately then the league will take care of itself.”

Satisfied with the contribution from his midfield, he knows