Andy Halliday believes Saturday’s win over Dunfermline was the first time Hearts have won this season without playing well.
The Championship leaders had Craig Gordon to thank for keeping the score at 0-0 with a stunning first-half save from Ryan Dow.
Robbie Neilson’s team improved after the break and claimed all three points after Jamie Walker came off the bench to net a late winner.
The Jambos have lost three times this season - away to Dunfermline, away to Dundee and at home to Raith Rovers.
On each occasion, a poor display resulted in zero points as they were punished for poor starts.
But they managed to ride that out against The Pars and get the job done last weekend and Halliday admits it’s something they haven’t managed often enough this season when they aren’t on top in games.
He said: “One thing I don’t think we’ve good at this season is winning when we’ve not played well.
“Dunfermline on Saturday is probably the first time. First half, we never played well but in the second half we were much better and ended up winning the game.”
That’s not to say the defeats have all been down to Hearts not playing well.
Dunfermline in particular were impressive at East End Park, but who are the best team the title favourites have faced this season in Halliday’s opinion?
“It’s hard to say because we’ve only played a lot of the teams once,” he told Open Goal. “But Raith at Tynecastle are probably the best team we’ve played this year.
“I was really impressed with how they played and the players they’ve got. John McGlynn’s got them playing good football and they’ve got good players.
“So they deservedly beat us that day and Kai Kennedy was unbelievable.”
Hearts recovered from that home defeat to the Kirkcaldy club by going to Stark’s Park and winning 4-0 before beating Dunfermline.
That leaves them 12 points clear at the top of the table and they can increase their lead with a win away at Ayr United on Friday night.
