Derek McInnes praises new signing Jordi Atlena after debut win over Livingston

New Hearts recruit Jordi Altena impressed Tynecastle boss Derek McInnes in his first taste of action at the club.

The Dutch right-back made his debut in the 1-0 win over Livingston that moved the Jambos six points clear at the top of the Premiership.

After the match, McInnes highlighted the performance of the 22-year-old, who he signed from RKC Waalwijk on Thursday.

Altena was pitched straight into the starting line-up for a match and set up Craig Halkett’s 18th-minute header which proved decisive in keeping all three points in the capital.

Speaking after the win was secured, McInnes said: “Jordi did well.

“I thought his touch was so pure, lovely feet.

“For a debut, it’s not always easy, he’s only had a few days training with us, but I think you can see he’s a very good technical player, very confident with his work.

“And he’ll feel the benefit of having had the game, which is good. He’s part of a winning performance on his debut. One or two wee moments where he could maybe do better on the defensive side but that will be fine, we’ll get to grips with that.”

Hearts were hoping to parade Kazakhstan winger Islam Chesnokov to supporters at half-time on Saturday but the new recruit’s flight was delayed and he did not arrive in Edinburgh until around 4.30pm.

McInnes is hopeful he will be registered in time to face Dundee next Sunday.

“Unfortunately for him he’s not seen the game,” he said. “It was a pity because we had it all set up. We wanted him to watch the game and all the various (things).

“He will go through his visa application on Monday. I think he’s through in Glasgow for that Monday morning so we’ll not actually get him to the training ground but hopefully after that we can get boots on him and get him training.”

Livi boss David Martindale, whose side are four points adrift at the bottom and winless in 19 matches, handed debuts to three players at Tynecastle.

French defender Brooklyn Kabongolo played the whole game after spending the first half of the season on loan at Arbroath while Ghanaian midfielder Emmanuel Danso and Dutch forward Josh Zimmerman both came on in the 72nd minute.

“I thought big Brooklyn was immense, I thought he was brilliant,” said Martindale, who is confident his January transfer business will improve his squad. “And the (other) two debutants in terms of Danso and Zimmerman, and there’s another two coming in this week.

“And potentially another one or two by the end of the window, which I think is needed. I think it’s quality which is going to help the group.”