Lawrence Shankland Hearts woes worsen as fans chant for striker to GO after penalty miss

Neil Critchley has come to Lawrence Shankland’s defence after Hearts fans chanted for the striker to GO following their away loss in Europe.

Shankland blazed a penalty over the bar as the side fell to an away loss in Europa Conference League action against Cercle Brugge, with the hosts scoring two unanswered goals either side of the missed spot-kick. The Scotland cap has just one goal to his name so far this season, but he has been influential to the side’s style of play.

His wastefulness however has drawn the ire of many fans as of late, with the Jambos faithful making their frustrations abundantly clear in Belgium. The travelling support chanted: "Shankland, Shankland, get to [expletive]".

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Critchley refused to single out any players for criticism following the loss but has now been forced to defend the striker who topped the Scottish Premiership scoring charts last term. "I understand [the] frustration, I get it," said Critchley when quizzed on the Hearts fans’ reaction, with north of 2,500 inside the Breydel Stadium in Bruges.

“I would never criticise a player for stepping up and taking a penalty. I say we win and lose together and he's taken it on himself to take the penalty, unfortunately he's missed. He just needs to stay with himself and not be too downhearted and we have to do the same.

“We wouldn't be in this position if it wasn't for him [Shankland], because he scored the goals that allowed us to be in this position and 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.

“Yeah, of course he can [carry the weight of being club captain in the final year of his deal and on a goal drought]. He's an experienced player and he's got broad shoulders and we'll stick with him, we'll stand by him and we'll give him the support that he needs. That's really important right now.

“We're desperately disappointed that we've not been able to give them [the supporters] a goal to celebrate or give them three points tonight. 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. Unfortunately, that's not happened."

Asked if his side could have won had they found an equaliser, he added: "I do, yeah. Because I think second half, when their energy died a little bit and we knew that, they'd leave us space on the pitch and we started to pass the ball better and control the game better."