Frankie Kent was left ruing the fine margins that separate teams at the top after Heart of Midlothian bowed out of the Scottish Cup courtesy of a 2-0 defeat to Rangers on Sunday.

Cyriel Dessers capitialised on some slack defending to hand Philippe Clement’s side an early lead at the national stadium and leave Hearts on the back foot. The men in maroon then gained a foothold in the game and improved after the break, only for Dessers to grab his second of the afternoon with 12 minutes to go and all but seal the win for the Glasgow club.

The result will sting for supporters, but so will the manner of the defeat. Hearts struggled to make any significant inroads in the final third throughout the game and, barring a fantastic save to deny Yutaro Oda in the game’s closing stages, Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland was hardly tested. Kent himself had an opportunity from close range during the first half, but subsequent replays have shown that he was in an offside position anyway.

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Rangers remain the only domestic side that Steven Naismith’s Hearts have failed to beat – the Ibrox outfit have won all five meetings between the two teams this season – but Kent is of the opinion that had one or two key moments fallen Hearts’ way, then he and his team-mates would have a Scottish Cup final to look forward to next month. It is, the Englishman noted, becoming an unhappy habit in encounters with Rangers.

“We are gutted really,” said the centre-back. “We didn't start too well and it’s a bit of a crap goal to concede after just five minutes. After that I felt we did well. We played well, controlled most of the game and didn’t give Rangers many chances. We felt really comfortable in the game and then we concede another crappy goal. Up the other end, we had our chances so it’s a hard one to take. That was the difference, they took their openings.

“Little things went against us. I had a chance but I have heard I was offside, so that makes feel a little bit better. If a few things had gone for us, it could have been a different day. This is a game where will look back and take positives from, but on the other hand we are gutted and annoyed. We had a chance and we didn’t take it.

“We started okay but Rangers get that goal in that one little moment. Even the way it went in, I was speaking to Craig Gordon about it, and there is a millimetre where he [Dessers] has managed to get it through his legs.

“It’s annoying but we have probably said it too many times in big games this season, especially Rangers. It’s small things that have made the difference. We have to move on now. We need to take the positives and look forward.”

With the cup run over and third all but secured – Naismith’s men lead fourth-placed Kilmarnock by 11 points with five games left to play – some onlookers might deduce that Hearts’ season is all but over.

Kent, however, insists the prospect of finishing the campaign on a high note provides the team with all the motivation they need. There is still the opportunity to put further distance between themselves and the chasing pack, to lay down a marker against their top-six rivals – and, of course, another shot at redemption against Rangers on the final day of the Premiership season.

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“We want to keep going and just get better,” Kent explained. “Up to this point, we have done well but as a team we want keep growing and progressing.

“There is no better way to do that than by finishing the season strong and looking ahead to next season. Hopefully we can do that. We need to get back on to the league form now and keep going.”

This weekend won’t be fondly recalled for years to come by supporters, but there has been a sizeable silver lining to it all: with Aberdeen knocked out in dramatic circumstances by Celtic in the other semi-final, a third-place finish in the league now comes with the added bonus of a Europa League play-off – and the guarantee of at least eight European games next season.

A win for Hearts at Rugby Park on Saturday will mathematically confirm a European tour next season – but even if that doesn’t transpire, it is surely a case of when, not it, fans can start digging out their passports.

“It’s nice,” Kent added. “It takes a bit of the anxiety off us now. We had this game to put it in our hands if Aberdeen did get through, but they didn’t. Now we have full focus on Saturday’s game and we go from there.”