Cammy Devlin revealed Hearts went back to basics to return to winning ways in the cinch Premiership.

The Gorgie side had lost their three previous matches in the league before winning 2-0 against St Mirren in Paisley on Saturday.

Saints midfielder Connor Ronan was shown a straight red card in the 23rd minute by referee Greg Aitken for a tackle on Beni Baningime but it was not until the second half that Robbie Neilson’s side eventually took advantage of the extra man.

Substitute Ellis Simms opened the scoring in the 64th minute from close range at the second attempt before midfielder Devlin grabbed his first goal for the Gorgie side three minutes later.

Devlin, who joined the Gorgie club from Newcastle Jets last August, admitted the goal had been a long time coming but insists getting back to the winning feeling was more important.

“I was buzzing to get a goal from a personal point of view,” the 23-year-old told Hearts TV.

“It has been a long time coming and I had a few chances that I probably should have scored and to score in front of the Hearts fans was so nice.

“The most important thing for us, off the back of some poor results, was to go there and whatever way, it was getting three points and we done that.

“We have spoken as a team with the staff and going back to what we do, we know that we’re a good football team.

“Going back to go back to basics is something we have spoken about and I think we showed that we did that.

“They sat in after their red card, and credit to us we stuck at it and got two goals and three points and that was the main thing.”

Stephen Robinson felt his first game in charge of St Mirren had slipped out of his players’ control because of referee Aitken’s decisions.

As well as the disputed red card, Saints felt they had a strong penalty claim ignored when striker Alex Greive went tumbling in the box.

Robinson told St Mirren TV: “Ultimately you are climbing a mountain after those decisions. The players reacted very well and fought right to the very end. You can’t control referees’ decisions.

“We have got a super bunch of boys, they stick together. We will pick them up again and be ready to go again on Wednesday (at Celtic Park).

“The fans were fantastic and my only disappointment is we weren’t able to get a result to match the reception we got.”