Winning matters most to Hearts winger Sam Nicholson
Monday 19 October 2015 08:43, UK
Sam Nicholson insists the most important thing for Hearts was to win at Dundee United rather than how they got the result.
Robbie Neilson's team edged out the hosts 1-0 at Tannadice thanks to Spanish striker Juanma Delgado's first-half penalty.
In turn, the Edinburgh side claimed their first league win in almost two months to end a run of five Premiership fixtures without collecting three points.
Having won their first six games in all competitions, Hearts have had to show character to get through their slump that followed.
That meant they ground out their success on Tayside rather than achieved it with flowing football - and Nicholson was perfectly happy with that.
The winger, who won the spot kick converted by Delgado when he was fouled by Blair Spittal, said: "It was a really hard game and they made it hard for us.
"They've just got their new manager so they were out to impress and I don't know if that means they gave an extra wee bit. We're just happy we came out with the three points in the end.
"I think the most important thing was winning. Sometimes it doesn't matter how you win as long as you get the three points.
"We ground this one out and got the three points. That's the most important thing."
Hearts lost Miguel Pallardo and Juwon Oshaniwa to injury after 70 minutes, with the Nigerian left-back claiming he had torn a muscle in his leg.
"Pallardo will be fine, he just got a dead calf," manager Robbie Neilson said. "Oshaniwa is one we need to look at in the coming days. He thinks he has a slight tear but we are hopeful it's just a spasm."
