Hearts head coach, Woulter Vrancken, felt the 1-1 draw with Danish side, FC Nordsjaelland, was a disappointment because of the late goal which arrived with four minutes of regular time remaining.
However, the Belgian-born playcaller also told Hearts TV that his men were disappointed at only taking a point in Europe against what he called “a really good side”.
He was proud of what his men achieved in the first hour of the game and added that Hearts were really dominant on the ball and out of possession.
Vrancken declared that the intensity of the Jambos “dropped at bit” in the last 20 minutes and he was disappointed that the substitutions he made, five in all, did not inject more energy into the game.
He wanted the newcomers to fight for the result and to heap pressure on the visitors, but it did not happen.
Looking back, Vrancken felt his men could have finished the game in the first half, with a second or even a third goal, and he added: “As long as you don’t score the second goal it stays risky.”
He added: “You have to reward yourself, especially on this stage and this level, the chances you have you have to exploit them better. We had some really good moments in the final third there. We chose to finish rather than giving a teammate a better chance.
“These are things we have to learn. These are important things when you want to nick results in Europe, but, like I said, really happy the first hour.”
He felt the squad can take confidence from the first part of the game as he felt the players showed a lot of confidence and did some “really good things”. He also praised his defence which was “really good” during the game.
Now, its off to Turkey next Thursday for the next part of their Europe adventure following a trip to Parkhead to face the champions, Celtic, on Sunday (15.00).
