It was not the kind of emphatic victory that Hearts had been looking for following an encouraging drawn-out pre-season.

Nevertheless, Jamie Walker’s second-half penalty, which was perhaps awarded rather fortuitously for handball by Cameron Harper, saw the hosts claim the three Betfred Cup Group A points at Inverness’s expense.

Hearts dominated possession and created plentiful chances.

However, there were also times when they were exposed at the other end.

They had goalkeeper Craig Gordon to thank at the start of the match for pulling off a stunning block to deny Daniel Mackay, while Caley substitute Nikolay Todorov lacked poise when he lashed a volley wide from a great position late on.

“I really enjoyed the game,” said Hearts manager Robbie Neilson. “There were periods I thought we did really well and periods we were a bit slack but that’s understandable when you’ve not played for so long."

Much has changed in the 209 days that have elapsed since Hearts' fateful defeat to Mirren on their last outing.

Never mind what the world looks like, this is now the ‘new normal’ at the Gorgie club.

A new dugout incumbent and new players, so many that there were only two survivors from the team that started against the Buddies, Craig Halkett and Steven Naismith.

The indignation over their enforced relegation from the curtailed has softened, although their desire to get back to the Premiership at the first attempt is palpable.

The start of the league is still to come, Dundee the visitors a week on Friday.

It was Betfred Cup action at Tynecastle last night against Inverness, a team that finished second in last season’s truncated second tier.

At Hearts boss Robbie Neilson’s quest crowd noise was played through the PA system during this game.

That might have been a problem for those compiling the audio if the sound was taken from any last season’s home games at Tynecastle, for the players were used to jeers raining down from the stands amid a wretched campaign.

The noise might not have been in sync with what was happening on the pitch but Hearts seamlessly moved through the gears in the early stages.

Just two minutes had gone by when on loan Preston winger Josh Ginnelly tore past Cameron Harper to set up two back-to-back attempts on goal, although both Craig Wighton and Steven Naismith were denied by Mark Ridgers.

Gordon’s save at the other end three minutes later trumped that, however.

Some 18 years to the day after making his debut in his first stint at Hearts, the former Celtic keeper dived to his left to brilliantly deny a point blank bouncing header fromMackay, who connected with Shane Sutherland’s cross.

Gordon also had to get down to Scott Allardice’s free kick, while Ginnelly brought out a save in Ridgers before team-mate Craig Halkett headed over.

In the main, anything good from Hearts came through Ginnelly on the right flank.

What would not have pleased Inverness manager John Robertson was the fact that his players seemed to adhere to the two metre distancing rule when they were near him.

Hearts upped the tempo in the second half as they continued their search for the breakthrough goal.

Jamie Brandon had a close range drive expertly saved by Ridgers before Olly Lee and Mihai Popescu both went close.

The goal eventually arrived in the 62nd minute when Walker slotted home a penalty.

The incident that led to the spot-kick was harsh on the visitors, Harper unable to get out of the way of Halkett’s shot.

"It's disappointing because I think he’s (referee Steven McLean) guessed it,” said Robertson.

"Under the new regulations - and we were all on the Zoom call, it's not a penalty.

“In terms of the game I thought our young lads were magnificent and worked really hard and created chances and Craig Gordon made a fabulous save.

"I'm disappointed to lose that way.”

Hearts did not care, however, and on the balance of play the hosts probably deserved it.

Neilson turned to his bench to freshen up his side after the goal, handing debuts to Jordan Roberts, Andy Halliday and Stephen Kingsley, who had only signed just hours before kick off.

Todorov ensured those turning out in a maroon jersey for the first time marked their debuts with a win when he hit his aforementioned effort wide in the 84th minute.