The Jambos’ draw with Petrocub of Moldova was insufficient to advance them to the competition’s knockout stages.

As the insecure team made mistakes that led to yet another disappointing outcome in what has been a terrible campaign thus far, hecklers streamed down from the Tynecastle stands.

Every outcome like that makes the environment around the place worse, and the confidence seems to be ebbing even more.

After losing to Kilmarnock, who were reduced to ten men, over the weekend, manager Neil Critchley was critical of his team.

His candour delighted Hearts supporters, who remained loyal to the new manager.

However, Critchley maintained that tonight wasn’t as horrible and that the issue was more with the quality than with the lack of effort or desire.

Critchley reacts to Hearts fan abuse

Both at halftime and at the end of the game, Hearts supporters jeered.

During play and after the final whistle, certain players were the targets of taunts.

They appeared to be impacted, and as a result, their confidence and performance declined even more.

Critchley says his team must just play through their frustrations and has no problem with fans expressing their ire.

“That’s football now, it’s not just Tynecastle,” he stated. You have to turn off the game you play there. That can be really challenging at times.

However, you must strike a balance between maintaining your composure and believing in what we’re doing, demonstrating your confidence and excitement to keep going with our goals.

“We are confident that our supporters will back us if we do that.

“I believe that everyone is upset and unhappy about what transpired on the pitch tonight. The fans rallied behind us when we were winning and playing on the offensive.

They were naturally irritated as we were losing the game. You must put that noise aside, focus on your game, and rise above it. The crowd supported us when we did that and responded.

When asked if his players find it difficult to overcome, he responded, “It is a challenge but it’s not going away.” We can only react because it is there.

“We have a few options, and we can choose to react by demonstrating our unity, struggle, and spirit.

“I continue to believe that there is more than enough to make things better in that dressing room.”

Critchley’s thoughts on the Hearts display itself

The Englishman acknowledges that his club has not performed up to par throughout the Conference League campaign.

And he believed that the same kinds of shortcomings he has been witnessing since taking over were present in tonight’s game.

“Very disappointing night for the football club,” he continued. Over the course of the six games, we haven’t performed well enough collectively, and we have paid a heavy price.

“Very annoying, to put it mildly. It went like many of the games I’ve watched, where we get out to a strong start, don’t blow chances, and they score almost immediately after the breakaway.

We are left to chase the game; we must react quickly, move ahead, and then not defend a single cross. If you don’t do well enough at both ends of the pitch then you pay the price and that’s what we’ve done tonight.