Hearts 2 - 1 Dundee United: Hearts fan zone

Ross Beattie, Merchiston: “A great three points for Hearts. I thought that we were the far better side in the first half and we were good value for our lead. We were guilty of sitting in too deep in the second half, though, and I don’t understand why we didn’t keep playing at a high tempo. We were holding on a bit at the end but we got the win and that’s the most important thing. It was good to see Rudi Skacel back and I’m glad that he didn’t manage to score against us.”

David Cosgrove, Westfield: “That’s a big win for us. We look like a completely different side since McGlynn introduced the 4-4-2 formation – it’s working so well for us. Smith and Sutton were lively again and when they start taking their chances, we’re going to be a very difficult team to beat. I’m definitely feeling much more optimistic about things both on and off the park than I did a few weeks ago. Hopefully, we can keep our good run going against Killie on Wednesday.”

Callum Thompson, Leith: “I’m pleased with the three points but I feel that we made things unnecessarily difficult for ourselves in the second half. We were well on top of the game at half time but we sat in far too deep after the break and allowed United back into it and it nearly cost us in the end. Marius Zaliukas and Andy Webster marshalled the defence brilliantly in the second half and they had as much to do with us winning as Ryan Stevenson’s goals did.”

Lewis Shields, Craiglockhart: “It wasn’t the best performance from Hearts that I’ve ever seen but the whole team worked extremely hard and earned the win. I am pleased that we’re scoring goals again but I still feel that we need to do a better job of killing teams off. When we were 2-0 up, we had the game at our mercy but we gave United a lifeline in the second half and couldn’t get a third goal to give us a cushion. I thought that the reception that Rudi Skacel got from the Hearts fans was first class.”

Steven Lockhart, Danderhall: “I’m relieved to have picked up all three points. There was a lot of doom and gloom about after the Hibs defeat but John McGlynn and the players have shown a lot of bottle to bounce back from that defeat and pick up seven points out of a possible nine in the last three games. A lot of the focus was on Skacel, obviously, but I thought that Ryan Stevenson was brilliant in the middle of the park and put in a really good shift for us.”

Craig Marshall, Danderhall: “The combination of Sutton and Smith up front with Ryan Stevenson getting forward to support them from the midfield is making such a big difference to the team at the moment. We look capable of scoring goals again and we’re creating problems for teams. Jamie MacDonald and the back four were superb and managed to restrict a decent Dundee United side to few clear chances. If we can keep up this kind of form, I’ll be looking forward to the game against Hibs on January 3rd.”