Craig Gordon said two words five times in the space of a minute: "We need".

The Heart of Midlothian goalkeeper is fully aware of the team's situation. He understands and knows Hearts need to start winning games. Especially games where they are creating chances. 

Cercle Brugge was another fixture where Hearts had done enough to win in terms of creating openings and opportunities. But it required them to take those chances. It made the defeat all the more frustrating considering the possibility of pushing up the Conference League standings. And considering the standard of opposition.

Gordon was left "scratching" his head at how Hearts "managed to lose that game 2-0", not helped by a fortunate opening goal that came via a mishit from Malamine Efekele.

“We played reasonably well in patches in that game, created good chances and weren't able to take them," he explained. “But I felt we, on the balance of play, probably deserved at least a draw, if not going on to actually win that one.

"I think he's looking to go back across me and somehow manages to kick it into the ground and it bobbles it in the corner. He couldn't have placed it any better in the corner. That's the kind of thing that is just not going for us at the moment. 

“We need one of our strikers to bobble one in the corner like that off a cross. It would be ideal. But yes, that just seems to be going against us at the moment."

Defeat on Thursday is not as big as the failure to win in the league. 

While Hearts remain in a strong position to progress to the knockout stage of the Conference League, they are still second bottom of the Premiership, one point above a hopeless Hibs team and three points behind Kilmarnock.

“We keep hearing that it's going to turn when things are going, but the results aren't getting better at the moment," Gordon said. "We've gone through a difficult run of fixtures.

“We need to turn things around. We need to start winning games. We're creating enough chances to score the goals to win games, but it just hasn't happened. We need to keep going.

“We need to believe that the performance levels are getting better, that we are creating enough chances to win matches. If we can continue to do that, then it will happen. It's up to us to make that happen. We can't hide behind anything.

“We need to go out there and start winning football matches and scoring goals again. It's difficult at the moment, but it's only us that can change it."

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It could and should have changed late on in Bruges. Hearts were in the ascendancy when they were awarded a penalty after a few shouts throughout the match. Lawrence Shankland stepped up but he watched his effort sail over the bar.

Gordon didn't watch.

“I was just hoping that would be the one that would go in and give him that little bit of confidence," he said. "I really feel for him at the moment."

The Hearts legend confirmed Shankland was both distraught and speechless in the dressing room afterward.

The main talking point from the game was the fans' chants directed toward the striker. 

"He's not spoken to anybody," Gordon revealed. "He's pretty distraught about it, to be honest. Hopefully, we get him back to the hotel and try and pick him up a bit, get him talking, get him focusing on the next game. 

“He's our top player. If we can get him back and firing then we're most inclined to do that. 

“He's hurting more than anybody. I really feel sorry for him. He's still trying his best. He's trying to do the things that he did last season and before.

“It's just not coming off at the moment. He just needs that bit of confidence. I've seen it in training. I've seen him have some great training sessions over the last few weeks, the last months.

“It's just not happened for him out on the pitch. But it's still there. He has to keep believing in that, and we certainly believe in him. The sooner he gets that goal, the better. We'll support him as best we can until then."

Shankland's place in the team and his captaincy have come under scrutiny from the Hearts support. 

Gordon believes "it will happen". Not just that it will happen but that he could still finish as the league's topscorer

“Nothing is going in for him," he said. "He's one of our best players. He's shown that at an international level as well, that he can score goals. It will come back.

“We have to support him the best we can. I know that the rest of the boys love him and that we're there for him to pick him up when he's going through this bad spell. He'll be back scoring goals, whether it's on Sunday or further down the line. It will happen.

"I think whether you're a captain or not, and you're going through something like that, it's a lonely place at times. You just don't feel that anything you do is going right. I can tell him as much as he wants.

"It's going to turn out that he'll start scoring goals. He's only four behind the league's top goal scorer.  He's still got the rest of the season to try and be the top goal scorer. He's not that far behind, a hat-trick in one game, and he's right back in it. If there's one thing to look at, hopefully, he can look at that and build towards trying to be that guy again."

Ideally, for Hearts, it will come on Sunday when Aberdeen come to Gorgie as they look to keep up a fantastic record against the Dons at Tynecastle.

"We played well up there," Gordon said. "Again, we didn't manage to come away with the victory that probably our play deserved. 

“The home team has always done particularly well for whatever reason in this fixture over recent years. We're hoping that will continue this Sunday."