Steven Naismith insists Hearts beat themselves as Aberdeen 'bullied' Jambos in 'unacceptable' second half display

Angry Stevie Naismith claimed his Hearts team beat themselves and got bullied as they threw away the points at Aberdeen.

The Jambos had gone ahead through Lawrence Shankland but ended up losing 2-1 as the Dons got back to winning ways. Naismith criticised his team for failing to deal with Aberdeen’s direct display. He said: "Definitely. I'm extremely disappointed. The game starts really well, we are really confident and in full control. To be so far ahead and then be sitting here after a defeat is extremely disappointing.

"We beat ourselves today, if I'm honest. After being in control for so long and doing so well, we end up getting bullied and that's inevitably what has cost us. As Aberdeen started going more direct, we didn't deal with the first contacts enough or the second balls. Any 50-50 duel, we didn't win enough of them. That gave them a bit of momentum. Ultimately, that's what cost us. Ultimately we need to learn from this because in terms of being bullied, that's not acceptable.”

Naismith is looking for his players to dig deeper: "It's a character thing,” he claimed.

“It's a control thing, when internally there is a bit of pressure. We need to deal with that. We started slashing at clearances when we've got four extra players in that area of the pitch. We didn't play.

“You need to be a tough character if you want to be a successful footballer. You can't hide or shy away from these moments.”

The one plus for Hearts was the return of Craig Halkett for the first time in almost a year after an ACL injury. It failed to sugarcoat this result for Naismith and his side’s defending.

Naismith stated: "Personally for him it's a positive that he's back on the pitch, but I'm not looking at many positives here as the goals