MX23RW : Sunday, April 24 16:20:53| >> :600:112558:112558:
[monks data]
Sep 18, 2021 at 3pm UK at Victoria Park
Ross County
2 - 2
Hearts
Spittal (10', 45')
Paton (64'), Baldwin (72')
FT(HT: 2-1)
Boyce (9'), Kingsley (66')
Woodburn (42')

'Outstanding' Barrie McKay singled out for praise following Hearts' draw

'Outstanding' Barrie McKay singled out for praise following Hearts' draw
© Reuters
Boss Robbie Neilson was also impressed with Cammy Devlin in the 2-2 draw at Ross County.

Hearts manager Robbie Neilson praised the "outstanding" Barrie McKay after the former Rangers winger made his first start in a 2-2 draw with Ross County.

McKay earned a promotion after making his debut off the bench against Hibernian last weekend and the 26-year-old was handed an unexpected 90 minutes of action in Dingwall.

Stephen Kingsley was the Hearts hero after his excellent free-kick rescued a point after Blair Spittal's double had cancelled out Liam Boyce's early opener.

But Neilson took plenty of encouragement from the impact made by McKay, who left Swansea in the summer, and debutant Cammy Devlin, who made an impact from midfield after coming on in the 56th minute.

"I was delighted with them," Neilson told Hearts TV. "We spoke to Barrie before the game and thought we'd get 60-70 (minutes). But he was playing that well we thought, if we take him off we are losing a really attacking threat.

"I thought he was outstanding. The chances he created, the movement, was top quality."

Hearts missed the chance to move top of the cinch Premiership after spurning some good chances and finding home debutant Ashley Maynard-Brewer in good form in the County goal.

Boyce netted a deflected opener in the ninth minute but Spittal struck from 22 yards two minutes after an exchange of passes with Jordan White.

And the County skipper slotted home off John Souttar seconds before the break after good wing play from Regan Charles-Cook.

Neilson said: "In possession I thought we were really good. We had loads of possession, moved it well, got into some brilliant areas for our wide players and strikers.

"First half we had six or seven clear-cut chances and ended up coming in 2-1 down.

"In possession was good, I'm just disappointed with the goals we lost. Direct balls, we knew what was going to happen and didn't deal with it properly.

"It's Scottish football at times, when you play against teams they won't play through the middle, they will turn you and they will get up on it.

"There will be days it will fall for them, days when it doesn't fall for them. Today was one of those days when it fell for Ross County twice and they managed to score."

County boss Malky Mackay was largely satisfied after their third draw from a difficult start to the season, but they came close to their first win when Souttar cleared off the line from Joseph Hungbo in stoppage time.

"Hearts are a terrific team and you can see the size of their squad," Mackay told RCFCTV. "Interestingly, they changed their shape and we coped with that and caused them problems.

"It was always going to be tough and there was always going to be a period when they were coming at us.

"But despite the amount of attacks and crosses they had in the second half, we still had the nous to go up the park and on another day we should win that with the last chance.

"We created chances of our own during the game and I've got to be really happy about the quality of our goals."

ID:464384:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:collect5158:

Click here for more stories about Barrie McKay

Click here for more stories about Hearts

How you voted: Ross County vs Hearts

Ross County
4.9%
Draw
14.6%
Hearts
80.5%
41
Collect / Create New Data
Share this article now:
Did you know...?
Hibernian manager Jack Ross pictured in May 2021
Read Next:
Saturday's Scottish Premiership predictions including Hibernian vs. St Mirren
>
Sports Mole Logo
Enter your email address to subscribe to Sports Mole's free match previews newsletter! Updates are sent twice a week.

rhs 2.0
Todays Game Header Right
Premier League
Scottish Premiership
La Liga
Serie A
Bundesliga
Ligue 1
Eredivisie
Primeira Liga
Turkish Super Lig
Belgian Pro League
Swiss Super League
Russian Premier League
Norwegian Eliteserien
Swedish Allsvenskan
Danish Superliga
Finnish Veikkausliiga
Segunda Division
2.Bundesliga
Eerste Divisie
Major League Soccer
Brasileiro
Argentine Primera Division
Uruguayan Primera Division
Liga MX
AFC Champions League
Australian A-League
Women's Super League
Women's Champions League
Tables
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Celtic33264378195982
2RangersRangers33237367274076
3Hearts33169848331557
4Dundee UnitedDundee Utd331011123137-641
5Ross County331010134552-740
6Motherwell331010133850-1240
7Hibernian33911133137-638
8Livingston33108153543-838
9Aberdeen3399153842-436
10St Mirren33812133050-2036
11St Johnstone3379172144-2330
12Dundee33510182957-2825

Subscribe to our Newsletter


Match previews - Daily
Transfer Talk Daily
Morning Briefing (7am UTC)
Ultra close-up image of Kevin De Bruyne [NOT FOR USE IN ARTICLES]Get the latest transfer news, match previews and news direct to your inbox!