Dundee United manager Peter Houston paid tribute to the Hearts players' ability to put aside the club's off-field problems and admitted he felt fortunate to see his side earn a 1-0 win.
The Tynecastle club had been hit with a series of problems in the build-up to the match, with officials admitting they do not have the money to pay their players for the second successive month and Houston felt his old team handled a turbulent week admirably as they made United work hard for the three points.
Houston said: "I felt we were playing against a really good Hearts team. I've got to compliment them, I thought they played quite well today at times and we had to dig deep to get that result. I don't think (the issues) had any bearing on the result. If you look at the way they played today, I thought they played well."
He added: "They worked really hard, so any thoughts about them not being paid, you can put that to bed right away. The Hearts players played with great fervour and with good passing, although sometimes their final ball let them down.
"They had plenty of possession in the second half and they camped us in our half at times, and the pleasing thing for me was that they never got through and our goalkeeper was decent as well.
"But credit to the Hearts players because in difficult times they've put that to the back of their minds and put up a good performance.
"I would say we were a wee bit fortunate to get three points."
Hearts continued their ban on the media and failed to make either manager Sergio or any player available for interview.
