Steven Naismith's Hearts rotation admission after cup loss

The Hearts head coach made eight changes from the defeat at Dundee and saw his team create plenty of first-half chances. However, they fell behind after the interval and never looked like getting back into the game.

Read or listen to everything the Hearts boss said below.

Can you sum up the feelings at that game?

Disappointed, we’re out of the cup. Frustrated, disappointed. It's a cup tie, you have four great chances in the first half and you don't take them. And we spoke about when we are being aggressive in possession, you've got to watch that counter because that's a big thing for any team you come up against. That's what leads to the first goal. And at the second goal we kill ourselves again, which effectively takes the tie away from us. I’m really frustrated because the way we started the game, we had good chances. But you’ve got to take them. If you don't take them, you leave yourself vulnerable to what Falkirk do. And that's exactly what happened today.

What did your team not do that you'd instruct them to do?

I don't think there was too much. They worked hard. They pressed them. Falkirk are a really good footballing team. I thought in the first half they very rarely broke through us getting through the pitch. They went direct and if it was a second ball they got onto it. So that side of the game was decent. We then have the moments that you've got to take. But we didn't do it. And then you leave yourself open, as I said. When they break, we've not set up behind the ball well enough, which leads to the chance. You're then not asking them to break you down to score.

Did you sense the unrest from the fans?

The fans are going to be disappointed when you’re not winning a cup tie where you’re favourites to go through. So they're going to be. I think as the game went on we started making wrong decisions. Too many balls into the goalie's hands. Giving up too many fouls, which then kills the momentum. And ultimately that second goal.

Does it give you a bit of a headache going into such a big week?

No, it just clears it up that we can't rotate as much. We've given everybody a chance in the squad to make a mark on the team and say, I'm playing every week. The last two performances haven't given us that. It probably clears that aspect up. But we need to make sure we just have an 11 out there that now gets through the games. There's a tight schedule that we're going into. We'll just need to put a team on the pitch that we think is going to win us the game.

Eight changes today is a regret? Or that team should be good enough to cope?

The game's done in fine margins. We had four really good chances that the players on the pitch created. The first half was mainly a solid performance. Any chance was literally a counter-attack from them. The one that I talked about where we're set up probably wasn't right. But other than that, we were good. The only thing in that half that was missing was the ball in the back of the net. Like I said, we had four really good chances.”

Were you expecting far more of a reaction after going behind?

That's what I'm talking about. The ball goes in the goalie's hands too many times. We give up fouls. As players, you've got to recognise that. There's not much you can do from the side of the pitch. You've got to let that momentum build and the pressure build on them. Get them to the point where they're hanging on to a 1-0 win. But then we give up a cheap second goal, which ultimately gives you no chance.

Do you know what happened with the second goal?

I think we're still setting our players up. We shouldn't have taken it. Because some players are still getting into position. And we make the wrong choices.

A word on Craig Gordon. A couple of big saves?

Two great saves. Obviously in the game, there are moments. But like I've said before the game, the two goalies have been pushing each other. And they're two high-quality goalies. So we're fortunate to have both of them.