Andy Irving has rubbished suggestions that complacency is creeping in at Hearts.
Robbie Neilson’s team lost just their second Championship game of the season after going down 3-1 to Dundee at Dens Park on Saturday night.
The Jambos already trailed by two goals by the time Irving was introduced at half-time.
And he made a difference with his incisive passing before halving the deficit with a free-kick that bounced into the far corner.
A late penalty from Jonathan Afolabi sealed the points for the hosts though.
Hearts remain five points clear at the top of the table and Irving is adamant there is no complacency amongst the squad as they head into 2021.
"No complacency has crept in - not at all,” he said.
"The squad's very professional and we have got a lot of players who have played at a very high level who are very experienced.
"I don't think it's any complacency. I think it's just been an off-night.
"This is a tough league - 100 per cent.
"You come to places like Dundee and even when teams come to Tynecastle they're not going to make it easy for us when we can just turn up and play.
"We have to do the dirty side as well especially as the pitches at this moment in time aren't fantastic.
"We reacted well from our defeat at Dunfermline so now we need to react well from this and go on another winning run.”
