“A very frustrating afternoon.

“I think from the start to finish, we did not play well. It was not us. It was probably one of the worst performances we have put in all season.

“Very frustrating sitting here looking back at the game. Personally, I was not good enough and I am sure a few of the boys would be honest enough to say the same about themselves.

“Every game between now and the end of the season is important. We need to win as many games as possible. We had that in our minds going into the game.

“In the first half we did not manage to get our game going at all. That was very disappointing because over the last few games we were looking as if we had got our rhythm going again. With the big game next week, we have to bounce back very quickly.

“What went wrong?

“We never got our game going going forward. Myself and the other forward players, we did not make the right choices.

“Also, when the game became high tempo we should have tried to keep the ball for a bit which as I say is something we have done well over the past couple of weeks. We have managed to dominate games and keep the tempo to what we want it to be.

“To be fair to Hearts they did very well and pressed us very well. They were a very good tactical outfit from the start to the finish. That is not a good enough excuse for us though. We have to find a way round that.

“This is the point in the season when you need to be playing your best stuff. It is important everyone in the changing room appreciates that.

“After the win in midweek, to hand the initiative back in the race for second spot is disappointing. It is a step backwards. But we are still well in it. We need to realise that and keep that positivity going into the next couple of league games but this next week is about putting today behind us and focusing on the cup.

“The rest of the weekend we will be feeling down and it will be annoying but come Monday, the manager will get us back into training and our heads will be on the cup game. 100% focus on Hampden. We will still be positive and confident going into the semi-final.

“We will be well prepared and come Saturday at 12:15 we will be ready to go.”