'You have to score when you're on top': Critchley rues missed Hearts chances

Hearts head coach Neil Critchley admitted his side had failed to make the most of their opportunities against Heidenheim but said he wasn’t disappointed with the performance.

The Tynecastle side had the best of the first half in their Conference League clash but didn’t take their chances. Second-half headers from Sorlord Conteh and Jan Schoppner meant the Bundesliga side took all three points.

Critchley said the German side’s quality had shown in front of goal and that if his side had shown the same ruthless streak, the outcome would have been different.

“The one thing to take away from this game tonight, I think you have to score when you’re on top,.” he said. “You have to be you have to take those chances.

“We weren’t clinical in front of the goal and then we’ve got punished with two real moments of quality, the first goal in particular.

“I’m disappointed with the result, but not the performance.”

The result leaves Hearts with six points from their opening three games, and twelfth in the Conference League table at the halfway stage.

Critchley said the performance was on a par with Hearts’ last European night at Tynecastle, when they were comfortable 2-0 winners over Omonia Nicosia, but there was one key difference.

“I thought we played just equally as well tonight as we did against Omonia,” he said. “We just didn’t score when we were on top.

“And if we had taken our chances, then I think the game was there for us to win.

“I thought the attitude of the players and mentality was good. We went right to the end.

“I’m just disappointed. Sometimes you don’t get what you deserve, and I don’t think we got what we deserved tonight.”