Hearts warmed up for next Sunday’s Scottish Cup clash against Celtic with a comfortable 2-0 win over Sevco this afternoon.
Second half goals from Jason Holt and Jamie Walker were enough for Robbie Nielson’s side to see off the new boys and open up a nine point lead at the top of the table.
Hearts went into the match without captain Danny Wilson and leading scorer Osman Sow but were still a notch above Ally McCoist’s highly paid toilers.
The match was a bad tempered affair littered with 42 fouls and an early red card for Stevie Smith after a dangerous and late challenge on Callum Paterson.
Kevin McHattie was stretchered off early in the second half following a lunge from Kenny Miller who was substituted soon afterwards with Hearts boss Neilson pleased with the way his side responded to the physical approach of their opponents.
“For both sides there were a lot of strong challenges but you have two teams at the top of the league competing at Tynecastle with a full house and the atmosphere and the build-up to the game,” the Tynecastle boss said. “We had to stand up to it. They put some challenges in and we put some challenges in.
“A lot of them have experience of playing in the SPL so I knew we could handle the occasion, it was just about handling the physicality and strength. We did a lot of work on that during the week and thankfully they have taken things on board.”
Hearts are unbeaten in the SPFL Championship but lost 3-0 to Celtic earlier this season in the League Cup.