Craig Gordon says one 'distraught' Hearts player is hurting most as he explains a miss-hit goal in Belgium

“I'm still scratching my head at how we managed to lose that game 2-0, to be honest,” Craig Gordon’s reflections on Hearts’ UEFA Conference League defeat against Cercle Brugge are as candid as ever. Thursday night wasn’t a vintage performance but the Tynecastle side created enough scoring chances to win the game. The problem, yet again, was converting them.

Lawrence Shankland had several attempts at goal and a missed penalty, Kenneth Vargas had chances but lacked conviction, Alan Forrest forced a save from the Cercle goalkeeper Maxime Delanghe. It was another match with a familiar story in attack. In total, Shankland and Vargas had 10 efforts on goal between them. Gordon admits being perplexed by the final outcome.

“We played reasonably well in patches in that game, created good chances and weren't able to take them. I felt we, on the balance of play, probably deserved at least a draw, if not going on to actually win that one.” Meanwhile, Cercle were scoring with shots that didn’t properly connect - as if to compound Hearts’ frustration during what was their fourth successive defeat in all competitions.

“Yes, it's a total miss hit,” said Gordon of Malamine Efekele’s opening goal. “I think he's looking to go back across me and somehow manages to either kick it into the ground or off his other foot and it bobbles in the corner. He couldn't have placed it any better in the corner.

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“That's the kind of things that are just not going for us at the moment. We need one of our strikers to bobble one in the corner like that off a cross. It would be ideal. But yes, that just seems to be going against us. We keep hearing that it's going to turn when things get going, but the results aren't getting better at the moment. We've gone through a difficult run of fixtures. We need to turn things around. We need to start winning games. We're creating enough chances to score the goals to win games, but it just hasn't happened. We need to keep going.

“We need to believe that the performance levels are getting better, that we are creating enough chances to win matches. If we can continue to do that, then it will happen. It's up to us to make that happen. We can't hide behind anything. We need to go out there and start winning football matches and scoring goals again. It's difficult at the moment, but it's only us that can change it.”

The goalkeeper offered an effusive defence of Shankland after some Hearts fans aimed unsavoury chants at their captain following the missed penalty. Shankland’s contract is due to end next summer and he has rejected offers of an extension. As his penalty soared over the crossbar late in the game with Cercle leading 1-0, Hearts’ best chance to equalise went with it.

Shankland’s only goal this season was a stoppage-time equaliser against Ross County in September. After 28 and 31 goals for Hearts in the previous two campaigns, he is struggling with a goal drought. “I didn't even watch it. I was just hoping that penalty would be the one that would go in and give him that little bit of confidence,” said Gordon.

“I really feel for him at the moment. Nothing is going in for him. He's one of our best players. He's shown that at an international level as well, that he can score goals. It will come back. We have to support him the best we can. I know that the rest of the boys love him and that we're there for him to pick him up when he's going through this bad spell. He'll be back scoring goals, whether it's on Sunday [against Aberdeen] or further down the line. It will happen.

“Whether you're a captain or not, and you're going through something like that, it's a lonely place at times. You just don't feel that anything you do is going right. I can tell him as much as he wants. It's going to turn out that he'll start scoring goals. He's only four behind the league’s top goalscorers. The league top goalscorers are only on five. He's still got the rest of the season to try and be top goalscorer. He's not that far behind. A hat-trick in one game and he's right back in it. If there's one thing to look at, hopefully he can look at that and build towards trying to be that guy again.

“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.”

Aberdeen’s league trip to Gorgie on Sunday brings together two rival clubs at opposite ends of the Scottish Premiership. Hearts are joint-bottom, while the Dons are two points behind leaders Celtic. Last month’s 3-2 defeat at Pittodrie was another game Hearts felt they let slip away after going 2-1 ahead in the second half.

“Absolutely. I think we've said that after a lot of games. That's been part of the problem,” admitted Gordon. “But yes, we played well up there. Again, we did manage to come away with the victory that probably our play deserved. The home team has always done particularly well for whatever reason in this fixture over recent years. We're hoping that will continue this Sunday.”