Claudio Braga on what was said in ‘united’ Hearts dressing room.

That is the message from Claudio Braga after Heart of Midlothian’s lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership was reduced to two points by Rangers, who overcame them at Ibrox.

Leading up to the match, the home team’s head coach, Danny Rohl, attempted to convey that the pressure was rising on the men from the capital, despite the fact that they were 12 points ahead of his team at one point.

However, Braga, who scored his 14th goal in a fantastic rookie season with a looping header, believes otherwise.

Despite being new to Scottish football, he is fully aware of the history and the fact that no team outside of Glasgow has won a top-flight title since 1985, implying that the pressure is on the clubs that are expected to perform.

From a Hearts perspective, they are still relishing being the disruptors and hope to get back on track over what is now a more manageable run of fixtures before the split.Speaking after the match, the 26-year-old said:

“No, I don’t think we have that pressure only because it’s been 40 years, right? “We are doing something amazing.”We are proud of our job, and the more (points) we can earn, the better.

“And nobody is crazy. Of course, we are discussing the fact that we have been first since September. But, I believe, the pressure is on the teams that typically win the league. As a result, there is a lot of pressure.

The nature of the goals conceded, as well as Rangers’ ease of cutting through the backline in the first half, prompted Derek McInnes to switch from a 4-2-3-1 to a 3-4-3 for the second half.

However, the club conceded two more goals and lacked offensive threat. “It’s frustrating, of course,” said the Portuguese forward.

“In the first half, I believe we performed better. We let them control the game and then launched a counterattack. We did a wonderful job with that. Then we conceded two cheap goals.

“We know we should have done better in the second half, including the goals against us. “It’s frustrating, but we’re still in first place with many games to go. If we did things a little differently, like one less pass, we’d do better.

“We have a home game today, so we just need to focus on that.” The most frustrating aspect was how fast the Rangers recovered after the guys in maroon seized the lead.

“It’s not easy to score two goals at Ibrox,” Braga explained. “And knowing that we had the lead and had everything in our power to keep the game alive, and knowing that we let it slip twice, it’s disappointing for all of the boys.”

But we’re a very united team in the locker room; we’re like a family.” And we’ll just use that to improve the next game.” In his own post-match press conference, Derek McInnes said that certain members of the squad had “taken his thunder” before he could even start speaking in the dressing room afterwards.

The message was clear: ‘There is still a long way to go, and we’re still in this war’.

Braga acknowledged that everyone had a say, with some senior players being the most vociferous.

“Everybody, to be honest,” he replied when asked who conveyed the message. “A number of guys spoke. And, as I mentioned, we’re quite bonded in the locker room.

“Everybody is highly confident in each other.And I believe that is what has brought us together now.

We sacrifice our life for each other, which is why we play and do everything together.We do not care who speaks. Of course, the older guys and those with more experience in this league tend to chat a little more.

We listen to everyone, so anyone can speak up. It’s all about maintaining a happy attitude. We need to think positively.

“You understand the frustration. You feel the loss. But once we start the week, we just need to focus on the next game.”

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