BE FOR NEIL
Hearts boss Neil Critchley defends Lawrence Shankland after Jambos fans turn on penalty sinner skipper
He also called on other Hearts stars to step up and support the struggling captain
NEIL CRITCHLEY refused to blame Lawrence Shankland as Hearts fans turned on their skipper.
The Scotland striker missed an 82nd minute penalty as the Jambos crashed to Cercle Brugge.
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That saw the distraught forward receive abuse from the 3,000-plus travelling support at the final whistle as shocked team-mates looked on.
But Critchley defended his captain - and pointed out it was HIS goals last season that got them into Europe in the first place.
He said: "I haven’t said anything to him, I think he just needs his own space.
"He's obviously devastated, as you'd expect him to be, after the game in that situation.
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"But I've never criticised a player for stepping up and taking a penalty or missing a penalty.
"That can happen, we win together and we lose together.
"I understand frustration, I get it.
"We're desperately disappointed that we've not been able to give them a goal to celebrate or give them three points tonight.
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"It's just natural disappointment, we're all disappointed.
"When you're travelling in great numbers and you pay money and you come a long way, you have that feeling of wanting to have a good evening, as we all do.
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"Unfortunately, that's not happened."
Shankland was not the only sinner with Kenneth Vargas also missing a host of chances.
And Critchley admitted it’s high time someone else stepped up to help out their captain.
He said: "We wouldn't be in this position if it wasn't for him, because he scored the goals that allowed us to finish where we did last season.
"It's a team game and it's not just on Lawrence, it's on the other players as well, Kenny [Vargas], Alan [Forrest], Yan [Dhanda], [Blair] Spittal, whoever that is.
"The forward players, [Liam] Boycie, James Wilson, Barrie McKay, they've all come on and had minutes.
"You're looking for one of those players to score or create and we've not done that.
"It’s frustrating with a capital F.
The Verdict
How they rated. By Robert Martin
CRAIG GORDON: Appeared to be wrong footed by Efekele’s weak strike that put Circle ahead and then unlucky at second goal as Oyegoke’s deflection took the ball past him... 7
ADAM FORRESTER: The youngster was brought back in after missing out against Celtic and was booked for a foul on Gary Magnee and replaced by Daniel Oyegoke on the hour... 5
FRANKIE KENT: Couldn’t hide his frustration at the lack of quality cross balls for him to attack in the Circle box and was later booked for a full blooded challenge on Somers although he played the ball... 6
KYE ROWLES: Made a number of timely challenges to stop the Belgians in and around the Jambos box, even clattering into his own team-mate and fellow countryman Devlin at one stage... 6
JAMES PENRICE: Got down the left and linked up well with Forrest and Vargas but also struggled at times as the Belgian side looked to hit Hearts with quick counter attacks... 6
MALACHI BOATENG: Was solid alongside Devlin in the middle of the park in what was a physical encounter at times and used ball well before he was replaced by Barrie McKay... 6
CAMMY DEVLIN: In the wars constantly as he mixed it with the Belgian side, taking a high boot to the head and was also taken out by Rowles. Went close with a shot that was charged down... 6
YAN DHANDA: Saw one effort saved by Delanghe but his set piece delivery was poor and it was no surprise to see him replaced by Spittal on the hour... 5
ALAN FORREST: Stung the hands of Delanghe at the start of the second half and caused Cercle real problems by running directly at the Belgians backline... 6
KENNETH VARGAS: Had a number of chances but the end product wasn’t there, the Costa Rica forward shooting weakly at Delanghe when he had a sight of goal and spurning other opportunities... 5
LAWRENCE SHANKLAND: Blazed 82nd minute penalty over the bar. Saw early effort saved by Delanghe and then went agonisingly close with a clever backheel that finished just wide of goal... 5
SUBS: Blair Spittal (3) replaced Dhanda and brought more going forward; Daniel Oyegoke (3) was unlucky when Magnee’s deflection hit off him in the last minute; Barrie McKay (2) unable to provide the inspiration the Jambos needed to get back in the game; James Wilson (2) involved in penalty drama and put himself about; Liam Boyce (1) late sub for Forrest.
"If I was sitting here and we'd been well beaten and you get beat by a better team, sometimes it's easier to take.
"But we're in the game, we're well in the game, arguably the better team, particularly in the second half.
"And just in those moments that's when you need to score, you need to take chances.
"We're creating them but we're not scoring and that's obviously a problem.
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"It's a tough one, it feels a bit like deja vu, to be honest with you.
"A game of fine margins and unfortunately we've come out on the wrong side of it again."
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