Levein lavishes praise on players

Hearts boss Craig Levein heaped praise on his side after they fought back from two goals down inside the first half hour to beat Motherwell 4-2 and move into third place in the SPL.

Trailing 2-0 after just 28 minutes following goals from Dirk Lehmann and James McFadden, the Edinburgh club looked set for defeat.

However, a 35-minute bullet header from Dutchman Mark de Vries gave the Gorgie men a lifeline. A double from Andy Kirk and a fine Stephen Boyack goal in the second half completed the turnaround.

The Tynecastle manager said: “That game was great entertainment for the fans but not good for my blood pressure.

“I was pleased at the character we showed and it was good to show that we’re capable of coming back from 2-0 down to win and I think the importance of our work ethic shone through.

“When we got back level at 2-2 I think it was a psychological blow for Motherwell as it boosted our players yet dented their confidence.

“I want to compliment Andy Kirk because I’m really happy for him at scoring two goals after the injury problems he has had.

“He had a tough time last season due to injury. However, his pace caused problems and he’s the most natural goalscorer at the club.”

Levein also backed the performances of his defender Steve Pressley and Kevin McKenna and also classy Frenchman Jean-Louis Valois.

“Pressley and McKenna did well because they were given a tough time in the first half from McFadden. However, they put in good performances and won almost every ball in the second half giving us the platform to go on from there.

“Motherwell did test us in the first half and they have a lot of natural ability in attack.

“I think Valois is a great crosser of the ball and again he has outstanding natural ability and can do a tremendous job for us.”

Motherwell boss Terry Butcher admitted he had completely lost patience with his defenders after the game and then he actually apologised to them for his strong words.

“I just felt some of the goals we lost were given away far too easily.

“I said a few harsh words to the guys because I was disappointed for the fans but then I apologised to them.

“Then I said how can I criticise you too much after the great effort you have put in and the way you defended brilliantly against Celtic?

“I’m not the type of boss to slate players because I don’t believe that is the best way.

“Their equaliser from Kirk was very poorly defended from our point of view and the third and fourth goals could have been better defended as well.

“I don’t want to take anything away from Hearts though because they showed a lot of flair and in attack Kirk has great pace with de Vries being a man-mountain.

“Had we lost 4-0 then we could say we had not been in the match. However, at 2-0 up we were more than simply at the races.

“I actually joked to the rest of the guys that at 2-0 we had scored too early this week and unfortunately I was right.

“We have a lot of positives to take from our recent performances, though, because our front two were terrific in the first half here and it’s not as though we are lying down or intimidated by teams and we’re certainly being positive and going for it.”