“Regarding Malamine Efekele’s first goal, Gordon stated, “Yes, it’s a complete miss hit.” I believe he is trying to get back over me, but he either kicks it off his other foot and it bobbles in the corner or manages to kick it into the ground. The corner was the best spot for him to put it.

“Things like that are simply not working out for us right now. That kind of wobble in the corner off a cross is what we need from one of our strikers. It would be perfect. However, that does appear to be working against us. Though the outcomes aren’t improving right now, we keep hearing that things will improve once they get underway. We’ve had a challenging run of fixtures. We have to make a change. We must begin to win games. It simply hasn’t happened, even though we’re creating enough opportunities to score the goals to win games. We must continue.

“We must think that our performance is improving and that we are giving ourselves enough opportunities to win games. It will happen if we can keep doing that. We are responsible for making that happen. We have nothing to hide behind. We must go out there and resume scoring goals and winning football games. Although it’s challenging right now, we are the only ones who can make a difference.

After some Hearts supporters hurled foul chants at their captain after the missed penalty, the goalie gave a forceful defence of Shankland. Shankland has turned down offers of an extension for his contract, which expires next summer. Hearts had their greatest chance to equalise late in the game when Cercle led 1-0 and his penalty shot over the crossbar.

Shankland’s only goal this season came against Ross County in September in stoppage time. He has struggled with a goal drought after scoring 28 and 31 goals for Hearts in the previous two years. “I never even watched it. Gordon remarked, “All I was hoping for was that penalty to be the one that went in and give him that little bit of confidence.”

“Right now, I feel so sorry for him. He’s not getting anything. He is among our finest players. He has demonstrated his ability to score goals on the international scene as well. It will return. We must do everything we can to help him. I am aware that the other boys adore him and that we are available to help him get through this difficult time. Whether it’s against Aberdeen on Sunday or later, he’ll be back scoring goals. It will occur.

“It can be a lonely place at times, whether you’re a captain or not, and you’re going through something similar. It’s as if nothing you do seems to be working. I can tell him anything he wants to hear. He’s going to start scoring goals, it turns out. He trails the league’s top goal scorers by just four goals. Only five goals are scored by the league’s leading scorers. He still has the remainder of the season to try to lead the team in goals scored. Not that far behind him. He’ll be right back in it after a hat-trick in one game. Hopefully, if there’s one thing to consider, he can look at that and work towards trying to be that guy once more.

“He hasn’t not spoken to anybody. He’s pretty distraught about it, to be honest. Hopefully, we can pick him up a bit, get him talking, get him focusing on the next game. He’s our top player. If we can get him back and firing then we’re most inclined to do that. He’s hurting more than anybody. I really feel sorry for him. He’s still trying his best. He’s trying to do the things that he did last season and before. It’s just not coming off at the moment.

“He just needs that bit of confidence. I’ve seen it in training. I’ve seen him have some great training sessions over the last few weeks, the last months. It’s just not happened for him out on the pitch. But it’s still there. He has to keep believing in that, and we certainly believe in him. The sooner he gets that goal, the better. We’ll support him as best we can until then.”

Two rival teams from different sides of the Scottish Premiership will meet up on Sunday when Aberdeen travels to Gorgie for a league game. The Dons are two points behind leaders Celtic, while Hearts are tied for last place. After leading 2-1 in the second half, Hearts felt they let another game slip away in last month’s 3-2 loss at Pittodrie.

Yes, without a doubt. We’ve probably stated it after a number of games. “That has contributed to the issue,” Gordon acknowledged. However, we performed admirably up there. Once more, we were able to secure the win that our performance most likely merited. For whatever reason, the host team has consistently performed exceptionally well in this match in recent years. This Sunday, we’re hopeful that will continue.