Sean Clare believes the first half hour against Rangers on Sunday should be the platform for Hearts to build on as they look to turn their season around.
The Jambos had been on a disastrous run of just one win in 15 Premiership games heading into the match, with a number of fans calling for manager Craig Levein to be sacked.
While that run was extended to a single win in 16, and Hearts remain 10th in the league, Clare believes the 1-1 draw with Steven Gerrard 's side proves things are moving in the right direction.
He told the Edinburgh Evening News: "We can take a lot of confidence from the Rangers game.
"We contained them for a large majority of the game. Obviously a good team like Rangers are going to have possession and occasional chances but we kept the chances to a minimum.
"We’re not overly happy because we didn’t get the win but I think overall it was a step in the right direction.
"I thought in the first 15 to 30 minutes we were outstanding and could have had two or three goals.
"We caused them real problems. It was frustrating to give away the goal the way we did but it’s a really good platform for us to kick on now.
"We’ve shown what we’re capable of and we need to show it on a consistent basis now. We can’t just sit back on this result - we need to build on it.”
