Why Neil Critchley left barracked Lawrence Shankland alone after Hearts defeat as boss reacts to fans flak

Shankland blasted a penalty kick over the bar when Hearts were trailing 1-0 on 82 minutes at the Jan Breydel Stadion. The hosts, who had taken the lead through Malamine Efekete on 40 minutes, went on to put the game to bed right on 90 minutes through Gary Magnee as the skipper’s miss proved costly.

Critchley, however, refused to blame Shankland, whose 31 goals last season were a large reason for Hearts being in the Conference League.

“We wouldn't be in this position if it wasn't for him [Shankland], because he scored the goals that allowed us to be in this position and finish where we did last season,” said the head coach.

“It's a team game and it's not just on Lawrence, it's on the other players as well. Kenny [Vargas], Alan [Forrest], Yan [Dhanda], [Blair] Spittal, whoever that is, the forward players, [Liam] Boycie, James Wilson, Barrie McKay, they've all come on and had minutes. You're looking for one of those players to score or create and we've not done that.”

Critchley revealed that he had not spoken to Shankland in the aftermath of the miss. “Nothing at the moment, I think he just needs his own space,” continued Critchley. “He's obviously as you'd expect him to be after the game in that situation. But I've never criticised a player for stepping up and taking a penalty or missing a penalty. That can happen. We win together and we lose together.”

A portion of 3100-strong Hearts travelling support chanted for Shankland, who is out of contract at the end of the season, to “get to ****,” while the team as a whole were jeered at the final whistle.

“I understand frustration, I get it,” said Critchley. “We're desperately disappointed that we've not been able to give them a goal to celebrate or give them three points tonight. It's just natural disappointment, we're all disappointed. When you're travelling in great numbers and you pay money and you come a long way, you have that feeling of wanting to have a good evening, as we all do. Unfortunately, that's not happened.”

Hearts could have secured a play-off spot and European football after Christmas had they picked up a positive result in Bruges. Critchley believes his team were worthy of more.

“We started to open them up and get into some really good positions in the final third,” he said. “I felt that was coming, even though they had a chance maybe on the break. They hit the bar but that was just after our penalty miss. I felt we were in the ascendancy and I felt if we scored at that moment - goals change games. They are the pivotal moments aren't they? The big moments. We had 10 minutes to go, we get back to 1-1, it's properly game on then, isn't it?

“It’s frustrating with a capital ‘F’, yeah. If I was sitting here and we'd been well beaten and you get beat by a better team, sometimes it's easier to take if you like. But we're in the game, we're well in the game, arguably the better team, particularly in the second half. And just in those moments that's when you need to score, you need to take chances. We're creating them but we're not scoring and that's obviously a problem.”

The Englishman, who arrived at Hearts last month, had words of praise for the large travelling support, who were a loud presence throughout the tie. “It was unbelievable,” the ex-Blackpool boss added. “I've never experienced something like that before. It was overwhelming. Fantastic support, which makes the disappointment even more when you lose because you know what it means to them. It's the worst feeling in the world when you can't deliver something for so many people, which it means so much more.”