Lawrence Shankland says struggling Hearts only have themselves to blame

Lawrence Shankland admitted floundering Hearts have only themselves to blame after they were met with “hostility” from their own supporters as they crashed out of the Conference League.

The Jambos – already under pressure after slipping to the bottom of the Premiership – were the only side to win their first two group-stage matches and not progress to the knockout phase after they failed to win any of their closing four fixtures.

Victory in the final match at home to Moldovan minnows Petrocub on Thursday would have been enough to take them beyond Christmas in Europe for the first time in 36 years.

But despite fighting back from 1-0 down at half-time to lead 2-1 amid a fraught Tynecastle atmosphere, Hearts conceded an 83rd-minute penalty equaliser and were ultimately pipped to the last spot in the knockout phase play-off round by Serbian side Backa Topola by virtue of goals scored.

During and after the match, supporters vented their fury towards players, management and board members as a grim season lurched to a new low.

“We only have ourselves to blame,” captain Shankland told TNT Sports. “They were solid defensively, they were hard to break down.

“They managed to hit us with a counter in the first half and get themselves ahead which again makes it difficult because they had 11 bodies behind the ball.

“I thought the boys showed good character because it got a bit hostile out there from early doors in the game and we had to kind of stand up to it.

“We managed to get ourselves back into it and get ahead, and from that position, we should really go and win the game. It’s not a game we should draw or lose, but unfortunately we have drawn.”

Asked how Hearts had contrived to miss out on qualification after winning the first two matches, Shankland said: “The level of opposition was obviously good in the last three games (Heidenheim, Cercle Brugge and Copenhagen), so that changes things.

“I thought we deserved to win the two games that we won (against Dinamo Minsk and Omonia). Of the ones we lost, maybe Heidenheim could have gone differently but the other two I think we probably deserved to lose.

“And then in the last game we were trying to win the game to go through, and unfortunately we didn’t do it. I don’t feel like the boys didn’t try or work hard, it was just a lack of quality in the final third because we got in there enough.”

Head coach Neil Critchley, whose side host St Johnstone in a bottom-of-the-table showdown at Tynecastle on Sunday, told his players they will simply have to learn to deal with frustration from the stands and find a way to rise above it until they improve their predicament.

“That’s football now,” he said. “That’s not just at Tynecastle. That’s everywhere. That’s the game you play, and you have to block that out.

“It is a challenge, but it’s not going away. We have to respond and show fight and togetherness and spirit in how we play the game because I’m still confident there’s more than enough in that dressing room to improve our situation.”