Craig Levein thinks he saw enough in Hearts’ performance against Rangers on Sunday to suggest that his side is about to turn the corner.

The Jambos were edged out at Tynecastle 2-1, losing to an offside goal in the first half.

The manager was happy with elements of his team’s performance and is looking to tonight’s Ladbrokes Premiership match at St Johnstone to see if they can build upon it and win all three points.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Craig said: “It’s not nice in any situation to be involved in a run of form that we’re in. As much as we had momentum going with us earlier on in the season, we’ve had a bit of momentum going against us.

“I was hoping on Sunday that we could’ve got something from the match, which then becomes the foundation for us improving again. I think we might’ve got enough from the performance to do that, and tonight will tell us.

“I was pleased with the energy and determination and all of the things that we did at the weekend. If we had been a little bit better with our final pass on occasions then we could’ve had more opportunities but again, it was still much better than we had been doing in previous weeks. I’m hoping that the corner has been turned.

“Christophe coming back has been a big bonus for us. I don’t know yet whether he’s going to play tonight, we’ll have to see how he is. At least he’s back and we’ll get Naisy back from the Aberdeen game, and then things start to look better for us.

“Our problems have been well documented. We aren’t doing as well in the final third as we did earlier in the season. Goals change games and we’ve been at the mercy, sometimes, of having to keep clean sheets at times when we don’t look like we’re going to score.

“I thought we were better in that regard on Sunday. We’ve changed the shape a little bit again and we’ll see what happens.”

Craig’s pre-match press conference is available to watch in full by clicking here.