Today, though, he stressed that strike rate would be just one small factor in his favour when he sits down to decide what the line-up for Tynecastle should be.

“For a start, at this stage of my career it is goals in the first team that count, not the reserves, and I haven’t scored one, so getting a goal yesterday isn’t a big issue,” he said.

“And whether or not I’ve played well, there are a lot of other things I have to take into account — people don’t realise there are a lot of extra pressures that come with being a player/manager.

“Tony Docherty is in charge of the reserves and, when I am playing for them, I can relax and just concentrate on my game. It is not like that in the first team and that can make it more difficult.

“When I am picking the team for the weekend, I also have to take into account the kind of week I’ve had on the managerial side and how I am feeling — that’s what I’ll do for Sunday.”

Definite pluses from yesterday’s Easter Road trip were the performance of new boy Grant Smith and the 90 minutes Lee Mair and Steven Robb completed.

“Grant needs a game or two to get his fitness level right up to scratch, because he tired in the second half. But he showed some nice touches and did well,” added Craig.

“It was very good to see Lee Mair come through the whole game and Steven Robb will have benefited as well — he did well against Motherwell last Saturday, but it was obvious he hadn’t started for a while.

“Overall, it was another good performance by the boys. We were very strong first half and, although I thought Hibs were better than us for most of the second, we finished strongly and would have had a second if David Robertson hadn’t missed a penalty — he did well otherwise.”

Fans planning to head for the capital on Sunday can get tickets from the Dundee United Direct shop at Tannadice.