Neil Critchley relishing Hearts link-up with former transfer target after Blackpool near miss

Hearts head coach Neil Critchley is relishing his chance to finally work with his longtime target Beni Baningime.

The former Everton man set up Kenneth Vargas for Hearts' winner against St Johnstone and McDiarmid Park and the new Tynecastle gaffer revealed he tried to sign the midfielder when he was in charge at Blackpool. Critchley has enjoyed a decent start to life in Scottish football, with three wins from his opening five games, with his only loss coming in the Scottish Premiership against a determined Kilmarnock side.

One of the main criticisms of the Gorgie side earlier this season was their inability to fit their best players into a system effectively but Critchley is starting to find a solution to get the likes of Baningime, Yan Dhanda, and Blair Spittal all playing well for his side. The 46-year-old has been full of praise for Baningiime in the aftermath of their win in Perth in particular.

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He said: "I tried to sign him when I first went to Blackpool. I was nearly there but not quite, so I'm delighted he's here. I'm not used to seeing him go on a mazy run from the middle of the pitch, like he did for the winner.

"I don't think he knew what he was going to do when he got to the edge of the box. But he did brilliantly well, he slid it in for Kenny and Kenny tucked it in. He has a really good temperament for the game. He's very calm. You trust him on the ball.

"He makes good decisions He's a very good athlete, he breaks the play up well. He gets around the pitch well and he helps the team play the way that we want to play."

Vargas' goal came after the Perth Saints captain Nicky Clark had scored for both teams. The striker scored an own goal, and then the host’s equaliser on either side of the interval.

But Critchley was left fuming at the VAR after a spot-kick was awarded, allowing Clark to equalise.

He added: "I had some experiences at Blackpool in cup games and I've never been a fan of VAR. It causes issues and problems. It wasn't a penalty. There was a coming together and if you look at it, the boy pulls Cammy Devlin down first.

"As Cam's falling over, he then pulls him down. They both end up in a heap. It then looks like Cam's pulled the player down, but you can't quite see it from the angle, from where we're looking at it. If you're going to give penalties for those decisions, we'd have ten a game!"