Hearts manager Derek McInnes takes positive from 2-2 draw with St Mirren

Derek McInnes praised his Hearts players for their battling performance in a 2-2 William Hill Premiership draw with St Mirren.

The home side twice led through Dan Nlundulu and Miguel Freckleton only for Hearts to hit back each time thanks to goals from Lawrence Shankland and Claudio Braga.

The result cuts Hearts’ lead at the top of the table to six points over Celtic but McInnes called for a sense of perspective.

The manager said: “We’re going into November now, unbeaten, top of the league. If somebody had told me that at the start of the season, we’d be six points clear of Celtic after 10 games, we would have grabbed that.

“I think it’s important for a bit of perspective.

“The players are a bit disappointed, which is not a bad thing for them to be disappointed. In the cold light of the day, we dust ourselves down.

“It will seem a more than decent point if we can win against Dundee on Saturday.

“I liked how we were at the end. I loved watching my team. Nobody was accepting of just a point and we kept trying to win. I loved that the fans all stayed because we’ve had so many late winners.

“They believe in the team. There’s a trust there. Tonight we just fell short, but not from the want of trying.”

McInnes’ only major frustration was with the manner of the two goals conceded, one from a free-kick, the second from a corner.

He added: “I thought their two strikers were a handful in the first half. We didn’t quite deal with that. The goals we lose are poor as it’s two set-play goals. We have got to accept our part in that.”

St Mirren had what would have been a third goal – again claimed by Freckleton – ruled out for what the officials called an “impact offside”.

It was the second home game in succession when VAR had intervened in contentious circumstances to chalk off one of their efforts.

Assistant manager Brian Kerr said the club would likely need to speak to the Scottish FA’s head of referees, Willie Collum, for an explanation.

He said: “We’re still yet to see an angle that shows us why the goal’s been chopped off. Their interpretation on it is an impact offside against Mark O’Hara.

“We can’t see any contact. Miguel Freckleton, who scores the goal, is clearly onside and they reckon there’s some kind of contact on Lawrence Shankland.

“It’s something that we probably as a club need to speak to Willie about, about the rules and why it’s been disallowed.

“Decisions seem to be going against us a wee bit over the last couple of weeks.”