'I'm sick of it.' Cammy Devlin reacts after Hearts lose at Cercle Brugge in the UEFA Conference League

Player after player, Hearts trudged out of the Jan Breydel Stadium in Belgium on Thursday evening. A series of dejected faces and bowed heads plodded past the media en route to the team coach. Defeat to Cercle Brugge in the UEFA Conference League, and specifically the manner of it, hit hard.

No-one looked more disconsolate than Lawrence Shankland. His penalty miss late in the game with Cercle leading 1-0 was a huge opportunity, something no-one need remind the captain. The final 2-0 final scoreline left players, coaches and fans exasperated after a game in which Hearts created enough opportunities to win.

One player who did stop to articulate his feelings was Cammy Devlin, the Australian midfielder. His frustration was evident. For the fourth game in succession, Hearts had chances to take control but couldn’t convert them. The end result was a frustrating loss, just like against Celtic, Rangers and Heidenheim in the previous three fixtures.

“You probably would have seen the boys' faces, it was pretty similar in there [the away dressing-room],” said Devlin, speaking exclusively to the Edinburgh News. “If you watch the game, once again it's so frustrating. I've said it at the weekend, the score probably doesn't reflect the game at all.

At the end of the day, I don't want to come out making excuses and I feel like I've been in the press talking about playing well, but I'm getting sick of it because goals change games and it's the same story again. I feel like we've played really well, built ourselves into the game, lost a soft goal that was really bad on our behalf. The better team that didn't win - again.”

READ MORE: Neil Critchley comments on Hearts fans’ chants at Lawrence Shankland

Fans’ anger boiled over as Shankland and fellow forward Kenneth Vargas found criticism directed at them. Hearts’ struggles in front of goal this season are well-documented. Shankland has scored once and Vargas twice so far as the calendar prepares to flip over to December.

Devlin can understand supporters’ emotions but stressed that he and his team-mates are doing everything to improve their form. "I get them being upset and stuff. It's Christmas time, they're spending loads of money and coming to support their team in Europe,” said the player.

“I think, regarding the performance, if they watched the game back and reflected then I think we played really well. We just didn't score a goal. They're entitled to their opinion but you can never question the boys' effort and application and how hard we worked to try and get three points. It just unfortunately fell short.”

Two games remain for Hearts to earn the victory which would effectively guarantee a place in the Conference League’s knckout play-off round. However, that competition is now parked for the moment. Sunday brings a return to Premiership duty when Aberdeen visit Tynecastle Park. Hearts sit second bottom of the league and are only above Hibs on goal difference. They need a win against a visiting side just two points behind Celtic at the top.

There is no time for moping after midweek events in Bruges. “When you sign up for a massive football club and you want to feel sorry for yourself, you're probably at the wrong place,” explained Devlin. “I think it's a good thing it's another massive game in front of our home crowd. It's about us starting positively. We really wanted to give the fans something to cheer about on Thursday but unfortunately we couldn't. Hopefully we can do that on Sunday.

“Football is a funny game, it changes very quickly. I feel like, if we win on Sunday, momentum swings, you build confidence. We've got two home games in a row now and a week's gap in between, so you've just got three days to dust yourself off and get excited for another big game at home. Go into that, take the positives and really hopefully win the game.”