Hearts are now four points adrift of second bottom in the Scottish Premiership after a 1-0 defeat against St Mirren leaves then rooted to the bottom.
The Gorgie club now face the real prospect of a relegation battle as they fall six points behind their opponents who are in tenth spot, and four behind in-form Hamilton who currently occupy the play-off spot.
After a tight first half in Paisley it was Jonathan Obika who opened the scoring for the home side just after the break.
In a poor night for Daniel Stendel’s men who only managed one shot on target throughout the whole 90 minutes.
St Mirren are now into ninth place, two points of clear of Hamilton and ahead of Ross County in goal difference.
Next up for Hearts is a difficult away game at Livingston on Sunday before Ross County travel to Tynecastle the following Saturday.
There last game before the split will be a trip to Pittodrie to face fourth placed Aberdeen.
Meanwhile St Mirren have two away games at Kilmarnock and Ross County sandwiched between a home game to second placed Rangers.
After the split all the bottom six teams will play each other another once.
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