Lee Johnson summed up the Capital clash in one simple statement: “I’d love to see the ball in play. The ball must have been in play for 25 minutes. That is what it felt like, whether it be injuries, fouls or VAR.”
The Easter Road manager (pictured) added: “I could not believe it when they only put seven minutes on (after the first half). I will have to look at their goal but Hill obviously sent in a fantastic throw which probably should have been ten yards back. They allowed him to advance which allowed him to change the angle a little bit.
“Yes, it was a scrappy game which you probably expect in a Derby and we have had some good chances, Lewis Miller had one in the first-half, a header, and Fish had one against the post.
“We had the chances but not enough and the boys went for the golden ball too much and I was disappointed if I am honest with you in terms of individual quality when the subs came on. They have quality but they did not do enough in terms of that moment.”
Overall, he said: “We allowed them (Hearts) to waste time, the ball boys were slow and the keeper was walking past the ball boys but fair play to them on that, that is game management.”
He added: “Listen, I am proud of the second part of the season. If I look at the big picture now from where we are now to where we were we are in a fantastic place to progress and we will make changes over the summer, without question.
“There will be ins and outs, we are not finished, and everything is looking up, even the points tally in the top six has been good. I felt we should have beaten Aberdeen (at Pittodrie) which could potentially have been two more points.
“There is a summer to build that and add more quality and change the dynamic a bit and freshen the group up and we go again. We have a short summer, which is a good thing, and Celtic can do us a favour as we want to be in that European competition.”
Johnson also said that Jake Doyle-Hayes appears to have dislocated his shoulder and Chris Cadden, who was stretchered off, has injured his Achilles or calf. That is being assessed.
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