Hearts manager Neil Critchley insisted he did not panic when his side fell behind before going on to win their Scottish Gas Scottish Cup fourth-round tie with a 4-1 comeback victory at Brechin City.
Despite Scott Bright’s stunning 23rd-minute opener for the hosts, the Jambos restored parity five minutes before half-time with Yan Dhanda’s leveller.
Kevin McHattie’S own goal put Hearts in the driving seat as Elton Kabangu marked an impressive first start with a brace to see off the Highland League side.
And a quick reminder from the Englishman – after needing an injury-time winner at Spartans in the same stage of the competition last year – was a sign of how difficult an assignment the Premiership outfit faced at Glebe Park.
“When the boy scores that worldie, you start to think, ‘here we go’,” Critchley said.
“Other than the lad scoring a worldie from 25 yards, we started brightly. I think they had one chance which they put past the near post, it’s always going to be difficult for 20-25 minutes, they’re full of energy and came flying out of the traps.
“It was this round last year that it took to get an injury-time goal at Spartans, they’re not easy games these.
“It’s not what went wrong that’s sometimes how the games go, you have to deal with these moments and thankfully we did.
“We’re into the next round which was our aim before the game. The first goal is a good goal to get it before half-time, that settled us down a little bit.
“We said about playing more football and we controlled more of the game and pushed them back.”
Brechin boss Patrick Cregg challenged on-loan St Johnstone defender Bright to make the step up at McDiarmid Park.
“He needs to hold himself to a high standard of playing in the Premiership and not the level we’re at,” Cregg said.
“Scott has aspirations to go on and achieve in the game and it’s up to him in terms of mentality to make the step up.”
