Hearts boss Craig Levein ‘disappointed’ after defeat but proud of performance

Hearts manager Craig Levein says he was proud of his players' performance. Pic: SNS/Craig Williamson

A double from Odsonne Edouard cancelled out Ryan Edwards’ opener, sending the trophy to the east end of Glasgow and securing the “treble treble” for Neil Lennon’s men.

An emotional Levein spoke of his pride in his players during his post-match interview and said they had done the Edinburgh club and all associated with it proud.

“I’m terribly disappointed to end up on the losing side,” said Levein. “I’m very proud of the way the players performed and I feel the pain that they and the supporters feel.

“We defended extremely well the whole match, apart from a couple of occasions. The difficulty is when you play against opposition with very, very good players is that they tend to punish you.

“It’s very difficult for me to be critical of anybody. I thought they all tried ever so hard to implement the gameplan and did all the running they needed to do. They showed good composure when we got in decent positions.

“I said to the players, don’t have any regrets, and I can honestly say that I don’t think any of them will go to bed tonight and feel that they’d let Hearts down.

“I must congratulate Celtic. They have won the treble three times on the trot and it’s only right to mention that it’s the first time it’s been done in Scottish football.”

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