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Derek McInnes insisted he loved how Hearts played at St Mirren and highlighted their desire to score a late winner near the end of the 2-2 draw. Dan Nlundulu opened the scoring with a stunning overhead kick before Lawrence Shankland pulled Hearts level in the first half. After the break, Miguel Freckleton restored Saints’ advantage before Claudio Braga’s header restored parity. McInnes was disappointed his team did not force a later winner - substitute Landry Kabore had an effort disallowed by VAR - but was delighted seeing his players push relentlessly to earn three points. They had to settle for one in the end. “I think it's a notoriously difficult place to come,” said McInnes. “We've got to deal with how we should run play and engage with our strikers really quickly. I thought there were two strikers, there were a handful in the first half. “We didn't quite deal with that. The goal we lose is such a poor goal because it's two set play goals. We know that their goalkeeper will come up and take them. I didn't think it was a foul in the first place, but that's by the by. It's about 10 yards inside their half and we just go too deep. That's what they do, they bring their goalkeeper all the way up to halfway line, they sell it into the box. I actually thought we defended it too deep. “We didn't need to go as deep. If they do play it in there and they get it into the big boy's chest, then ideally he's still outside the box. It's a lovely bit of skill for him to score the goal, but he shouldn't be trying that for 22 yards rather than 12 yards. We have got to accept our part in that. I thought the response was good. I thought we created good chances. “Beni has probably got to score. Probably got a nosebleed how far out of the pitch he was, but he's got to score. I just looked and I thought we were good. If you take away the two goals, which obviously you can’t just dismiss two set-play goals, but the bits in between were good. I was pleased with the performance in the main. We could have been slicker off the right-hand side. “I don't think we were quite as tidy and efficient as we should have been. I thought [Alexandros] Kyzaridis was a threat throughout, I thought he was magnificent. Braga and Shankland dovetailed off each other. Both got goals. I thought we hit the woodwork two or three times where the goal dropped off. 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. There's just another chance for us. It nearly came about for Kabore and what a good moment that would have been. You dust yourself down. We've not defended our box well enough on two instances with three kicking a corner. “To score three goals away from home, we can't keep doing that. We did it once at Dundee United. Tonight we just fell short, but not from the want of it trying. I thought my subs were really good and really impactful when they came on - Tomas Magnusson and Kabore. We dust ourselves down. “It's a point at a notoriously difficult place. 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 could 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 one more game on Saturday [against Dundee].” St Mirren had a goal disallowed by VAR which would have put them 3-1 ahead. Mark O’Hara was judged to be offside and was also blocking the Hearts captain Lawrence Shankland on that occasion. Kabore’s goal was chalked off because Oisin McEntee was offside before hitting the shot from which Kabore converted the rebound. Both decisions left fans frustrated. “Paul and Alan have obviously got the monitor. They were debating,” said McInnes on the O’Hara incident. I think the players' reaction tells you, and you're always a bit hopeful from that. I believe the explanation was that maybe O’Hara was offside, and then he tried to block as well. Maybe a combination of both. Obviously, you never really know at that time. I can’t make it out on the monitor, really. You're just on the lap of the Gods there. “I hope they arrive at the right decision. Thankfully, we managed to get on the right side of it. Then we have the one with Kabore at the end, where Oisin, I think, is straight offside. It was a brilliant moment with Kabore. I thought he was really good when he came on. He really set about it. The boy's been busting. I think there's been a real improvement in him and how he's trained and everything else. I think he gets it. “I thought he was terrific when he came on. All these wee things, Tomas Magnusson, him, the way the team were at the end, trying to push for a win. I actually loved watching my team there. I really did, how they were. Nobody gave it up. We kept going right to the end, and we tried to apply pressure.” McInnes admitted that keeping Hearts players happy is a challenge after naming the same team for the sixth successive game. Players like Kabore, Magnusson and many others are striving to earn a starting slot. “I've got a squad full of that at the minute. The boys are itching,” said McInnes. “Obviously, it's the same team six games in a row, which is unheard of in football. Unheard of for me, especially. “Every time the team wins, the other boys are maybe starting to feel a wee bit further away from it because there's every chance it's going to be the same team. But you would never know how they've trained. I think Kabore and Magnusson and everybody else was itching to get on. Everybody's waiting for that call. I wanted to try and keep two strikers on the pitch the whole time. Obviously, we ended up with three at one point. “It's good that both my strikers scored. My other striker, Kabore, gets one chalked off. We looked a threat tonight. We were guilty of passing up a few good chances. We had a couple of really good moments that we should have made a bit more of. We've not won the game, and everybody expects us to win the game today. But we know you have to be almost pitch-perfect when you come here. “You need to deal with so much that comes your way when you play St Mirren. They ask the question of you, the game hits you right between the eyes. Would you be ready for it? If you don't deal with that as well as you need to, then the likelihood is you can suffer. We suffered, but we reacted, and we reacted well.” READ MORE: St Mirren 2-2 Hearts - report and ratings, VAR drama, McInnes taunts
