Blair Spittal, Craig Gordon, Kenneth Vargas and James Penrice all missed Hearts’ 2-1 win over St Johnstone as Tynecastle Park hosted its final Scottish Premiership match of the season. A Barry Douglas own goal and an Alan Forrest strike put the hosts 2-0 ahead at half-time before Graham Carey halved the deficit for St Johnstone. They could not force an equaliser and were officially relegated from Scotland’s top flight at full-time. Interim Hearts head coach Liam Fox has now presided over three wins from three games since the Edinburgh club sacked Neil Critchley last month. Forrest has scored in each of those three matches, but Spittal, Gordon and Vargas are missing through injury. Penrice was not risked to avoid a possible suspension. Hearts travel to Kilmarnock on Sunday, where Derek McInnes is expected to take charge for the final time before taking up the head coach’s position in Gorgie. “I don't think we'll have Craig, Kenny Vargas or Blair Spittal back for Sunday,” admitted Fox. “So it'll probably be around the same group that we'll go again with. So we'll get them rested and recovered and we'll look towards a tough game. “Penrice is one booking away from a two-game suspension. He's been walking that tightrope for a period of time and I just thought tonight was the right opportunity to take him out and give Harry Milne the opportunity, which he's absolutely stood up and gave us all something to think about. “I'm delighted for him. It was a difficult decision for me to play Harry or Stephen Kingsley at left-back because they've both been training exceptionally well. So it was a really close call, which is the environment we're looking for with people pushing each other every day. I thought Harry acquitted himself fantastically well. He had the hand in one of the goals and some of his defending and some of his passing and bits and pieces were really good. He can be really pleased with his night's work.” Gordon has a shoulder complaint, Spittal a thigh problem and Vargas a knee injury. Winger Barrie McKay was also missing after his partner gave birth to a baby boy. He did not appear at full-time as he prepares to move when his contract expires in a few weeks. Midfielder Jorge Grant, also confirmed as leaving Tynecastle, did come out to a guard of honour after three years in Scotland. “Without going into too much detail, Barrie's partner had a wee boy the other day so I gave Barrie a couple of days just to spend a bit of time with his family. Congratulations to them,” said Fox. “I was happy with large aspects of the performance. I thought in the first half we moved the ball really well, we created some decent chances, probably not as many as I would have liked, but we obviously come in 2-0 up, which is always positive. I would probably have liked a wee bit more intensity in a wee bit more cutting edge second half, but I think we've got to give credit to St Johnstone because they've come back into it. “Graham Carey scored a Graham Carey-esque goal, which is a great hit. They made us defend, they made us defend our box and we had to get out and we had to stand up to those moments. The first half was pleasing on the eye with some football stuff, and the second half probably the players deserve credit for digging in and showing a bit of grit and a bit of character to see the game out. “I like people passing forward, running forward, playing forward. I like people who think forward and look forward. So, I think we've seen a lot of that tonight and I think that's probably the work that we've done on the training ground. So, again, credit to the players for taking it on board and going and putting it in action.” Fox admitted sympathy for St Johnstone’s plight as they now prepare for life in the Championship. “Yes, absolutely. You can't not have sympathy,” he remarked. “I actually thought that for spells tonight they were good. They passed the ball really well and I've watched a lot of them. Naturally, they'll be absolutely devastated. But my focus, unfortunately, is on Hearts and I'm delighted that we've came away with three points and we've made it three wins on the bounce.” Fox is preparing to remain in charge of Hearts on Sunday. “At this moment in time, until somebody tells me different, yes,” he smiled. “I apologise for saying the same thing over and over again, but it's generally the truth. At this moment in time, I'll be preparing the team to go down to Rugby Park on Sunday, which is always a difficult game. Whenever you go down there, it's a tough fixture. Derek McInnes' teams are always really, really tough to play against. We'll go there with confidence. I repeat, we've won three games on the bounce and it's not easy to do. So we'll go down there and we'll go and try and win the game of football.” Hearts have now won three Premiership games in succession for the first time since February 2024. “I think that stat probably backs it up,” said Fox. “I get people will pour cold water on it and say you're in the bottom six. Yes, you're right, but it's still difficult to win three games back to back in the Premier League. It is. It's tough. As you can see tonight, we had to work really, really hard for it. So, yes, delighted. Let's see if we can make it four.” Forrest contribution drew praise from the interim manager. “Yes, he's such an unassuming guy. He just comes into work every day. He absolutely maxes out every day. He's a really good kid,” explained Fox. “I think we've seen some good stuff from him over the last couple of weeks. We've just given him a bit of structure, just given him a wee bit of opportunity, given him some clear things that we expect from him. And also, he's got a bit of pace and he's got a bit of talent. You can see confidence grows in players and sometimes it can be a really, really powerful thing, confidence for football players.” READ MORE: Hearts 2-1 St Johnstone report and player ratings