Neil Critchley has revealed he spoke with Hearts striker Elton Kabangu this week after a difficult Sunday afternoon for him against Rangers.
Hearts lost 3-1 at Tynecastle as two own goals from January signing Jamie McCart effectively handed Rangers all three points.
The Jambos were the far better side on the day and dominated the stats in terms of shots on goal, shots on target, expected goals and possession.
Kabangu was at the heart of Hearts’ missed opportunities having registered seven shots of his own – all of which came inside the penalty area.
Michael Steinwender, however, proved to be the only goalscorer for Hearts and Critchley admits Kabangu was left ‘disappointed’ having spurned so many chances.
Elton Kabangu ‘disappointed’ but has ‘outstanding’ mentality
But the Hearts manager has hailed the on-loan Union Saint-Gilloise forward for his elite mentality and pointed out how he never gave in despite the adversity.
Kabangu did not let it affect him in training this week either with Critchley confirming he was doing everything to put things right ahead of Hearts facing St Johnstone away on Sunday.
Critchley told the press: “I spoke to Elton this week. He was naturally disappointed with last weekend because he’s a goalscorer, he wants to score goals and he knew he had some real opportunities to score.
“What I’d say is that it didn’t affect him during the game. He didn’t get his head down. It’s not like he stopped working hard for the team or stopped competing because he was getting chances in the second half.
“His mentality is top. Yes, he was naturally disappointed, of course, because strikers want to hit the back of the net but I have to say his mentality is outstanding.
“This week, again, he’s straight on the training ground and the first thing he wants to do is practice and get better and improve. Those are exactly the types of players you want to work with.”
Hearts injury news ahead of St Johnstone clash
Meanwhile, Critchley provided no less than five injury updates regarding his Hearts squad – the most prominent being midfielder Cammy Devlin.
The Aussie star suffered a concussion during Hearts’ Scottish Cup tie with St Mirren and he missed the defeat to Rangers.
Critchley admits he’s still a doubt but there’s hope he could play some part in Perth. He said: “We’re hopeful. Cammy is following the concussion protocol.
“We will keep monitoring and assessing. He’s got another 48 hours. We are still hopeful he will make the game.”
Elsewhere, attacking midfielder Yan Dhanda will miss out against St Johnstone due to his hip flexor injury while defensive trio Stephen Kingsley, Frankie Kent and Craig Halkett are all making progress.
Critchley continued: “Yan won’t be ready (for Sunday). But he’s been on the grass for the second time doing some running.
“Kings, Halks and Frankie have all started to do a little bit of running but they will be a number of weeks away yet.”