Gary Mackay: Hearts stars must use disappointment as motivation and secure No.1 objective

The DNA of Heart of Midlothian as a football club was exemplified on Sunday in the Scottish Cup final defeat to Celtic with the fighting spirit that the team showed. That's the least Hearts supporters expect – for every one of their players to be giving it their best shot.

A dejected Craig Gordon sits against the post after Hearts' defeat to Celtic on Sunday.

There was maybe one or two that fell below expectations or didn't match the performance of their team-mates but that's to be expected in any game, let alone a cup final. For the collective it was a very strong performance.

It's those levels that will ultimately help the team win the Scottish Championship. If you get the majority of the starting eleven or the majority of the squad giving a seven/eight-out-of-ten performance every week, that's what you need to win titles.

This part of the year is always crucial with the games coming thick and fast. It doesn't matter if you're in the Premiership or the Championship. It's crucial for shaping the table. Hearts are three points clear with a game in hand over Dunfermline Athletic. We have now got two home games against Ayr United and Arbroath and a very difficult game away to Dundee. These matches are going to be very important.

There will be a huge level of disappointment among the squad after coming so close on Sunday but now it's up to the players to get over that and focus on the league, which has always been the priority this season. A cup win would have been nice, but we need to get back up to the Premiership.

It's very difficult to overcome that kind of defeat when you’ve come so close, but the players have got several key games coming up and they can make it easier on themselves if they use the disappointment as motivation. They can use it, individually and collectively, to spur them on to greater things.

Everybody will look at that Hearts side, having gone toe-to-toe with an all-conquering Celtic team, and even more now they'll treat them as the Celtic (or the Rangers) of the Championship. That will bring its own challenges.

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