Monday March 16th 2026
Players lining up before kick off
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Ewan Hornell
Saturday’s 1–0 loss to Kilmarnock was a tough pill for Hearts to swallow as the defeat to Neil McCann’s side cut their lead at the top of the table to just two points with eight fixtures remaining.
Craig Halkett, a beacon of consistency for Hearts this season, was frustrated with both his own and the team’s performance on the night.
‘I thought we had a really good week in training. The boys were ready but we just didn’t perform well enough,’ he said.
‘I don’t think we started the game well enough, we put ourselves on the back foot and we lost too many individual battles.’
Despite his disappointment, Halkett stressed there is no time to dwell on setbacks in such a tight title race, with the focus quickly turning to the next match.
‘It’s important we don’t get too disappointed with what happened tonight – we’ve got to take it on the chin and move on quickly.’
That was also the message delivered by manager Derek McInnes in the dressing room after the match.
‘The manager reminded us we are still in a brilliant position. I think anyone else in the league would bite your hand off to be where we are, so as disappointing as tonight was, we’ve got to remember where we are.’
With the Scottish title race attracting intense scrutiny, outside pressure is inevitable. However, Halkett insists that wasn’t behind Saturday’s defeat.
‘It was just one of those days where we weren’t good enough. The players in there all hold our hands up — we know it wasn’t good enough.
‘But we just need to get back into training and do what we’ve done all season after a setback — bounce back. This week’s no different. We know the aim is to go and get three points.’
Focusing on what they can control has been Hearts’ approach throughout the campaign, with the squad focusing only on their own performances despite the noise surrounding the title race.
‘It’s up to everyone in the building not to listen — in one ear and out the other — and just focus on ourselves. We know what we need to do.’
While many of the squad lack experience of being involved in a title race, Halkett is relishing the challenge.
‘For the majority of the boys in the changing room we’ve never been in this position before. I see it as a positive.
‘I don’t have any prior experience of being in this position and knowing what the pressure feels like, so I don’t take the outside noise to heart. It’s just about us doing our job.’
A lack of creativity and attacking threat was evident in the defeat to Kilmarnock, but there was encouraging news this week with both Lawrence Shankland and Cammy Devlin returning to training.
Halkett praised the squad for their efforts during the pair’s absence, while admitting their return will provide a significant boost heading into the run-in.
‘Yeah, it’ll be huge. Everyone knows how important Shanks and Cammy are to our team and how good a season they were having, so to have them back in training will give everyone a massive lift. Those two will bring loads of positivity.
‘We’ve gone on a run without those two massive players and picked up a lot of positive results, so it gives everyone huge encouragement. We know we’ve got a big squad and people needed to step up when they both got injured — and I think they’ve done that.’
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