Neil Critchley backs his Hearts 'hunch' and makes big Lawrence Shankland claim as Jambos move off bottom spot

The Hearts manager saw his faith in the misfiring striker repaid after two first-half goals from Shankland were enough to see off a meek Dundee challenge.

They ended the striker’s 12-game run without a goal and means his tally jumps to three for the season. Not everything went Shankland’s way – he was booked for a high boot challenge on Dundee midfielder Mo Sylla in the second half and will now miss next Sunday’s trip to face Kilmarnock, Any hope of a scoring run faces an almost immediate interruption.

He can however take his renewed confidence into Thursday night’s away Conference League clash against FC Copenhagen.

Critchley was delighted for the striker, who he stressed had not been playing badly despite not scoring. It all certainly came together for Shankland against Dundee as he scored two opportunistic goals – the first from a header and the second after he was on hand to convert a James Penrice cross that had been palmed out by goalkeeper Jon McCracken – to secure a much-needed win for his team, who are now off the bottom of the table.

“If you look at some of his stats and the data behind his performances, then other than the last little bit, he's been very similar to what he's been producing, particularly last season,” said Critchley. "So that will give him a world of confidence and lifted a bit of weight off his shoulders, if you like. Hopefully you can see the relief from the players and him and the supporters. It's a big moment for him, so hopefully he can (go on a run) now.”

Critchley underlined the importance of scoring the first goal, which Hearts haven’t managed to do often enough this season. “We've shown we can come behind last week against Aberdeen,” he said. “But we haven't scored the first goal in too many games and I think that makes a huge difference. I think it just frees the team up a little bit. If anything, we could have probably got one or two more today, in truth.”

The manager revealed he had a “hunch” that this fixture was the right time to hand 17-year-old schoolboy James Wilson his full debut. The teenager did well before being substituted after 67 minutes, with Alan Forrest coming on.

“I just said: ‘Go and enjoy yourself’,” he said. “We wanted him to stretch the line and try and get in between and in behind the Dundee back three. And I thought he did that. He was nearly on the end of a couple of things, a couple of crosses in the first half.

“He played a part in the first goal when Spits (Blair Spittal) hit it and he picks up the rebound, he's always sniffing the goals out. And it's brilliant for him, brilliant for his family and brilliant for the academy as well.”

Tony Docherty, the Dundee manager, summed up his side’s performance as very poor in the first half and much more like his team in the second. They still didn’t do enough to force the issue and drop to sixth in the table. “The second-half performance is an acceptable way to play,” he said. “The first-half, there's a lot we can do better.