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Substitute Craig Wighton made the difference as Scottish Championship leaders Hearts kept up their title push with a thrilling win over Ayr United.

The visitors recovered from Stephen Kingsley's early 30-yard opener to lead with second-half strikes from Cammy Smith and Luke McCowan at Tynecastle.

But Wighton equalised soon after coming on and Oli Lee restored Hearts' lead.

Wighton added his second and Liam Boyce made it 5-2 before Tom Walsh netted a consolation with the final kick.

After the agony of their Scottish Cup final shootout defeat to Celtic last weekend, Hearts' fourth straight league win keeps them three points clear of Dunfermline Athletic with a game in hand.

Ayr drop a place to sixth after a third league outing without victory.

Hearts head coach Robbie Neilson: "At 1-0 up we were comfortable but we never managed to get into second gear. We then lost two sloppy goals and that fired us into life.

"The big concern for us was coming off the back of a big game and disappointment last week, we had to make sure we were back at it again. The main thing was to get a victory."