Hearts manager Craig Levein has opened up on the impact assistant manager Austin McPhee has had and admitted that he has been responsible for the Jambos’ set-pieces.
Levein’s side have scored a number of goals from inventive set-pieces this season and grabbed another in the 1-0 win over Dundee yesterday.
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The Hearts boss believes it is something his side should take advantage of and cave the credit for it to his trusted sidekick.
“Teams get to know each other pretty well in this league and the games tend to be tight because of that,” Levein told the Sunday Mail.
“So Austin does most of the set-piece work, he focuses on it, takes time to look at the routines and we have a variation on them.
“Sometimes remembering them all can be tricky! I find myself asking: ‘What one are we doing here?’ But he’s done really well in that regard because we have scored goals from them.
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“They are important to us because we have a lot of taller players in the team and our delivery is good, whether it’s from Ollie Bozanic or Olly Lee.
“So it’s something we should take advantage of. Austin has given us a varied range – some of them are just getting the ball in and being
better in the air than the opposition but others are quite inventive.
“We’ve got goals from them and there are others we should have scored from.”
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The Jambos have scored ten times from set-pieces this season and will be delighted at the effect in the win over Dundee.
The win allowed Levein’s side to open up a five-point cushion on bitter rivals Hibs and gives them a little breathing space going into the final games.
With nine games left, Levein will be hoping his side can grab a few more goals from set plays and push them towards a European place.