Hearts missed the chance to go level with Scottish Premier League leaders Celtic when they were held to a 1-1 draw at Aberdeen in Graham Rix's first game in charge yesterday.

Hearts have 36 points from 15 games, two behind Celtic who romped to a 3-0 home win over champions Rangers on Saturday.

Hibernian remain third with 31 points while Rangers are languishing in fourth spot on 23 points.

Aberdeen's Jamie Smith slotted home a low, angled shot from the right of the box into the bottom left hand corner to give his side the lead after 13 minutes at Pittodrie.

Hearts levelled through Rudi Skacel, whose shot deflected off defender Zander Diamond and looped over keeper Ryan Esson midway through the second half.

Rix breathed a sigh of relief at earning a point following fierce criticism of his appointment at Hearts due to his conviction for unlawful sex with a 15-year-old girl in 2000.

"I am delighted, A, to get the game over with and, B, with the way the lads responded to what I said to them at half-time," the former Arsenal midfielder said.

"I said to them, 'I'm embarrassed with that first 45 minutes' and to be fair, they responded and we played really well.

"It's Motherwell next and another tough game and if we play like we did at the start of this one then we'll be four or five down at half-time," added Rix.

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Calderwood told the BBC: "I just said to Graham it had all the ingredients and said, 'Welcome to Scotland!'

"The pace of the game and the tackles were flying in, but there was not a lot of football played. But it was very exciting."

He added: "I thought we should have got the three points. We dominated the first half but they got the break in the second with the deflection for Skacel's goal."

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