Leighton Clarkson's stoppage-time winner for Aberdeen cast dejection across the faces of Hearts players and supporters inside Pittodrie.

However, within the wreckage of disappointment evident in the travelling maroon contingent there was one major plus point; the return of Craig Halkett.

The central defender may have played just 19 minutes and been left gutted on a losing return, but in the bigger picture just returning to the pitch after 11 months out with an ACL injury was a major win.

"It was a nice feeling," said Halkett of making his first appearance of the season. "It has been a long road since last Christmas Eve so it has been a lot of hard work, but thankfully that’s me past that stage now and I’m fit and ready to play. 

"It was great. It’s been 11 months since I last played a game so it has been a lot of hard work, a lot of sweat and tears to get me back in this position. It was a good feeling.

"It’s ended in disappointment because of the way the game went but in a few weeks when I’m looking back, just getting some minutes in my legs can only be a good thing. 

"I think with the knee, it’s been nine, ten, eleven months out. I think I would be very surprised if any one person was out for that long without any hiccups.

"Thankfully the ones I had were just minor, a couple of weeks with small muscle strains and things like that. Thankfully it was nothing to do with the knee, so it was pretty smooth sailing."

While Halkett's return to the playing fold - alongside Craig Gordon who suffered a similarly lengthy injury on the same day as Halkett last year - comes as a major boost, the player is under no illusions of the challenge on his hands to claim a starting spot.

"It was fine," the 28-year-old added of the wait to feature as he closed in on a return. "I think everyone has been transparent – myself, the coaching staff, the medical staff – about where I was at.

"I’m old enough and I’m not daft, I know the boys have been doing really well. It wasn’t the case where I hit my milestones and expected to go straight back in. I knew where I stood and it was just about being ready when the time came.

"Today was disappointing but the last few weeks have been good."

On his next major milestone, Halkett added: "Just more minutes. Like I said, the team has been doing really well. It’s just one of those ones where I need to work as hard as I can until the manager says that I am ready to come back in.

"It’s just about getting the head down this week, working as hard as I can, and then seeing what happens."

And for Halkett, the same goes for a possible return to the Scotland set-up having been called up before his injury blow but only being an unused sub under Steve Clarke.

"It’s somewhere way, way, way at the back at the moment," he said of his international ambitions. "I am just concentrating on keeping myself fit for Hearts and playing as many games as I can.

"I’ve watched the team over the past six months and they have done really well to qualify for a tournament. It’s not really been in the front of my mind to be honest. All I am concentrating on is Hearts at the moment."

READ MORE: Aberdeen 2 Hearts 1: Robson's men claim victory after late drama

Meanwhile, Graeme Shinnie is hopeful the late winner over Hearts will offer some breathing room from recent criticism of Barry Robson and his Pittodrie charges.

A run of six matches without a win saw Robson come under pressure from some quarters but Shinnie has insisted Robson deserved victory at the weekend with fine margins casting a somewhat gloomier picture over matters at Pittodrie.

“I stay away from social media and the media," said Shinnie when quizzed on the criticism faced by Robson.  “Criticism comes with losing games.  

“In some of the games we haven’t taken what we should have.  The manager can only do so much.

 “Look at Hibs away you need to take your chances and if you do it is totally different.  

“I am delighted for him, he has deserved it.  It is one step down now and now we need to put the foot down and kick on.

“It is modern football now.  I listen to talkSPORT in the car and you have one manager allegedly one game away from the sack. That’s football.  

“It's important we got the win.  It lifted the confidence because we go into a big week with a European game and a cup final.”

Shinnie - who leads his side into a final European outing against Frankfurt on Thursday before the Viaplay Cup final against Rangers on Sunday - was similarly pleased to see Clarkson shrug off some criticism this term.

He added: “Football is hard and criticism comes when you don’t win games.

You don’t become a bad player overnight. He was unbelievable last season.  He has some unbelievable games this season.  Hibs away he was brillliant.  

“There are good players in this team. You  need to take criticism on the chin but strong players at Aberdeen need to come through that.”