Read everything the Hearts coach said:

A good night for you? Yeah. I chose the wrong team. I assembled a team to try to get minutes, and we believed we could still be effective.

I felt we were effective at times, but not enough. But 2-0 up at halftime, I don’t want to complain too much, but it was clear that we needed to get to bylines more and have more natural width, and trying to shoehorn people in wasn’t fair to the lads. We were always going to use a back four; that was our intention.

We knew Kerjota had only about 20 minutes in him. It was always our intention to get Kyziridis on, who building up his minutes.

So I believe you saw a little more fluency, a little more tempo in the play, and a little more of what we were looking for in the second half.

And I believe that when we have a little more space to exploit, Dumbarton will have sat in their shape very well, and they deserve a lot of credit.

They have an experienced manager who knows how to organise his teams, and while they did not offer much going forward, they always posed a counter-attacking threat.

However, when they were in that shape, it was always more difficult to locate those spaces.

But I think when the games open up, having Kerjota, Braga, Kyziridis, and these types, I think will enjoy them spaces. When you look back at some of these boys’ introductions, I believe the fans, like us, have taken to them.

We know they have to work extremely hard, and being a Hearts supporter will cover a multitude of sins if you demonstrate a willingness to work hard and with intensity.

I thought our counter-press was outstanding tonight, winning the ball back and being relentless in that regard. So there were plenty of positives.

I probably knew that the team I chose for the first half would play out that way, but we tried to be effective.

Lawrence’s goal, a fantastic ball from Kingsley. We arrived in those areas several times, and we could have been more productive with our crossing. And a lovely header for Lawrence. Just looking for a little bit more.

There were good chances for all of the strikers tonight, and we probably deserved a little more, but we’ve come through the League Cup games very professionally and with a lot of motivation.

Clearly, the lads’ approach has been spot on, which has allowed us to win the group and look forward to the draw.

You mentioned winning the ball back. How big were Cammy and Calem, along with the back four?

I think Cammy plays that way sometimes, just seeing the ball and running after it, and that has to be tempered, but I think there are times when you need people to go and set the tone.

But I assumed it came from our front players. I thought Wilson, Shankland, and Elton were just hunting that ball down in the first and second halves, and you hear voices and people going to hunt.

Good players and good teams will occasionally break that press, but there must always be that instinct to go and win the ball back in good areas of the pitch for us.

And I thought we’d done it a lot, especially in the second half, when Dumbarton was tired. But it’s good to see, and hopefully it’s something we can work on again. Goals came from all over the park.

Is that a responsibility you’ve placed on all of the players? I believe all of the strikers scored goals during the preseason. I believe all of the defenders and center-backs have scored goals except Frankie.

And he probably should have converted a couple of chances. I believe that, given the level of competition, we were always going to dominate the four games and have plenty of opportunities.

Although League Cup games can come a bit too soon and they can make managers a wee bit nervous, more nervous than they need to be, because you know you’re a wee bit undercooked and you know you’re not quite ready, but there’s also if you come out the other end of it with the three clean sheets, with 16 goals, and your strikers scoring, and you’re getting the minutes and you’re getting the kind of various positives from it, then you’re actually glad that you’ve had I believe that since the first day of pre-season testing over a month ago, the lads have been excellent.

And they’ve incorporated that into these games. Saturday is a step up, followed by Aberdeen in the next few games. Pre-season is never a reliable indicator of whether you’re ready or not. I had great preseasons but started the season poorly. I’ve experienced the opposite. So, this isn’t a preseason.

It felt a little pre-season tonight, to be honest, but it has been competitive cup games, which I believe serves its purpose, and hopefully we will benefit from that.

What is the likelihood of Borchgrevink and Craig Gordon appearing on Saturday? Craig hasn’t given up yet, and they’re still trying.

We don’t know how long he can be on the pitch. So we obviously need to make sure we’re not doing anything to aggravate an injury that will make him worse. So Craig has to be comfortable with it, and we have to be as well.

But, you know, Craig intends to take the team out, and how long he can play remains to be seen. But he is certainly trying. He is attempting to arrive in time.

Borchgrevink had a hamstring scan today, and his knee is fine, settled, so he had a little bit of a contusion from a blocked tackle in Stirling.

But we don’t expect anything too sinister, so I think he has a chance on Saturday.

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