Hearts boss Neil Critchley expecting Aberdeen to rediscover form

Neil Critchley fully expects beleaguered Aberdeen to get back on form at some point but he has warned his resurgent Hearts side not to give them lift-off on Sunday.

The Dons have not won any of their last 10 matches – taking just three points along the way – after a stunning start to the season in which they won their opening 13 games in all competitions and were unbeaten for their first 11 in the William Hill Premiership.

Jimmy Thelin’s side were a whopping 23 points clear of Hearts after the last meeting between the sides at Tynecastle on December 1, but the Edinburgh team can close that gap to just eight points if they win at Pittodrie on Sunday.

Critchley, whose side have taken 10 points from their last five matches, is taking nothing for granted at a venue where Hearts have not triumphed since Abiola Dauda scored the only goal of the game in May 2016.

“The fact that they’ve not won in 10 makes me very wary,” he said. “I don’t like them stats, because eventually they will win at some point.

“They went unbeaten for 11 at the start of the season. They’ve got good players. Some of the results, if you look at some of the games, they’ve just not had a little bit of the rub of the green in some places. Those moments can go for you and go against you.

“We’ve seen that in some of our games. There’s a fine line between winning and losing. They’ve just been on the wrong side of it a little bit.

“I think it will change for them at some point, just hopefully not on Sunday.”

Despite their upturn in form since Critchley replaced Steven Naismith in October, Hearts remain 11th in the table but they are also now within striking distance of the top six after back-to-back 1-0 wins over Motherwell and Dundee United since the turn of the year.

“It’s so tight, so every point matters,” he said. “Every win matters. We’ve had a good lift, confidence, from our last two games. Keeping clean sheets definitely is a good basis to work from and we want that to continue.

“We’re hopeful going to Aberdeen. We know it will be a tough game, but we’re in good form. We can go there confident. I don’t think we’ve won there since 2016, so it’s about time we change that.”