Robbie Neilson has hailed Hearts pair Andy Halliday and Barrie McKay for 'putting their bodies on the line' for the team.
The Jambos have had a continually growing injury list to contend with in the first part of the season while juggling Europa Conference League football with domestic matters. That has had an impact on results of late but after a Euro success under the lights at Tynecastle against RFS, the capital club followed that up with a big win in Dingwall over Ross County.
The Staggies took an early lead through Jordan White, having already had a goal ruled out by VAR. But Lawrence Shankland levelled quickly after before Halliday's header turned the game on its head inside the opening 20 minutes. The former Rangers man eventually had to be replaced with boss Neilson revealing he has been carrying a knock for a number of weeks.
READ MORE: Hearts OUT of Europa Conference League as Fiorentina win dumps Jambos from competition
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Victory moves Hearts into sixth spot with Hibs just three points ahead in third having played a game more than their Edinburgh rivals. Providing an update post-match, Neilson said: "Both of them (Halliday and McKay) have been carrying knocks for the last few weeks but to their credit they've kept putting their bodies on the line for the team. I always knew Andy might have to come off, same with Barrie, and thankfully we've managed to get them off at some point.
"The guys who came in have done an outstanding job as well, so just now it's about being together, the staff, the players and the fanbase, who were absolutely exceptional today as you could see at the end there."
He added: "It's about digging this period out. All teams go through it but we're in a position where if we win our game in hand we go up to third in the league which is massive."
Hearts have four more games to play between now and the World Cup break. They round off their European campaign in Istanbul before three Premiership outings against Motherwell, Rangers and Livingston.
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