“Playing With Fire” catches up with 10-man core – McInnes

Former Hearts striker Ryan Stevenson: “Everyone will look at the sending off as a pivotal moment. From the first minute it was pivotal. The way they started the game, it’s the first time I’ve seen them this bad this season.

“The expulsion was disastrous. In this video meeting, they will feel embarrassed. There were a lot of wrong decisions.

“It was very bad, all over the pitch. They never got the ball up, they never ran back to ask questions.

“They were very passive and St Mirren won every second ball that bounced into the middle of the park.

“It happens. Everyone will jump on the bandwagon and say ‘that’s it, they’re stuttering.’

“They have never been in this position. It’s been 40 years since Aberdeen have been in this position, and none of us are used to this.

“If I were Derek McInnes I would say: ‘You’ve got the weekend, what a game you can come back to with the derby on Tuesday night.’

“It’s still in their hands. You can’t feel hopeless about it because they have to step back and go away again, but they can’t let that performance happen again.

Former St Mirren striker Stephen Thompson: “There will be big twists and turns before the end of the season. Tonight is just a low point for Hearts, but it is difficult to win every game.

“From now until the end of the season, Motherwell or whoever is taking points from Rangers, Celtic and Hearts. They will take points from each other.

“Hearts set such a high standard and it was strange to be away from that. Sometimes, when you don’t play well as a team, you can carry two or three riders.

“Tonight, there were a lot. It doesn’t happen very often to Hearts but when it does, you can’t win games.”