Derek McInnes tells Hearts fans what to expect on transfer deadline day after win over Dundee Utd

Kabore netted the opener and then wrapped up proceedings at Tannadice when the hosts were down to nine men. The Burkinabe led the line in the absence of injured Lawrence Shankland, who is expected to be absent until the start of February. McInnes revealed Hearts have “hit the post” with some transfer targets and would not expect another forward to come in.

“I’m not hopeful, no,” McInnes said on the prospect of signing a striker. “I’d like to, if I could, but I don’t think it looks likely. I think we’ve hit the post a couple of times and tried to get one or two things done, but I think it’s just going to run away from us.

“Such is life. We’ve got good players here. I said that if the window closes, what we’ve got is what we’re signed for. I think all the players tonight contributed. You’ve seen one or two coming back as well.

“[Sabah] Kerjota on the pitch, a lot of boys who would like more minutes. Sometimes you’ve got to rely on the ones that are in the building, and obviously Kabore is one that’s stepped up.

“We’ve got [Rogers] Mato, Leonard [in midfield], who’s been outstanding for us in the two games he’s played, and Jordi Altena at full-back. We’ve been really pleased with what we’ve managed to get in the window. Good work done by the club.

“Sometimes you can’t get everything you want, but we’ll keep going. We’ll keep chapping the door and see if there’s anything that lands for us. Normally, you know what it’s like, the transfer window really heats up in the last 24 hours. You just never know.

“But I don’t want to give too much encouragement to anybody. For the Hearts fans, I don’t see anything happening for us.”

McInnes on Hearts’ performance

McInnes hailed his team’s performance on a difficult pitch at Tannadice but admitted VAR decisions to send off Dundee United’s Amar Fatah and award Hearts a first-half penalty assisted them.

“We thought ahead of the game it was going to be a tough match for us,” continued McInnes. “Obviously, it’s been a long day waiting for this to come round.

“There was obviously a wee bit of doubt about the pitch, but credit to everyone at Dundee United involved to get the game on. The pitch was difficult, but despite that I thought we settled in the game really well. I thought Marc Leonard in particular ran the game for us in there.

“We went with the three midfielders tonight because we anticipated a lot of second balls and the game being a bit scrappy. But I actually thought we moved the ball really well. I thought our full-backs were quite pivotal in the early part of it.

“Obviously, the combination on the side with Harry for Kabore’s first goal gets us on our way. I think Kabore, Claudio Braga and Alexandros Kiziridis gave us really good moments. The second goal comes with a penalty.

“We were kind of in charge of the game, I felt. Obviously, the big bearings were the sendings-off. It was important in the message at half-time just to stay calm, stay disciplined, stay in charge of the game.

“Thankfully, we managed to get our clean sheet and do all that. We asked for a third goal and got it, which was really pleasing. Other than [Zac] Sapsford’s chance, the header from about 10 to 12 yards, we kind of kept Dundee United away from our goal.

“So I think we’ve seen ourselves move down to 10 men, you can still get results. When it went down to nine men, it becomes so much more difficult for Dundee United’s lads. I thought the lads who stayed on the pitch for them were terrific with their work, and we had to work for any opportunities.

“We scored our third goal and we could maybe have added to that. But I would have taken 3–0 all day long before the game, because we know Dundee United are a capable team.

“We’ll enjoy the night. We’re back in tomorrow. We’ll train the lads that need to train, recover the ones that need to recover, and get ready for another tough one on Tuesday night [against St Mirren].”