Heart of Midlothian missed the chance to secure their place in the knockouts of the Europa Conference League tonight.

Neil Critchley’s side went down 2-0 in Belgium as Cercle Brugge ran out winners with a goal in either half, as the Jambos suffered back-to-back defeats in the Conference League.

Lawrence Shankland’s goal drought continued after the striker missed a penalty inside the last 10 minutes with the score still 1-0 to the hosts.

The Jambos require just one point from their remaining two league phase fixtures to all but certainly secure a place in the Conference League play-offs.

And while they gave a decent account of themselves here, they’ll need to move to Copenhagen away and Petrocub at Tynecastle as they look to achieve a minimum of seven points in the league phase.

This would likely see them secure an unseeded spot in the play-off round, while nine to 10 points would see the Scottish Premiership side seeded.

Hearts currently sit 18th in the table on six points, with a chance of finishing in the top eight - which would see them bypass the play-off round and straight into the last-16 - not out of the question.

Tonight's defeat at the Jan Breydel Stadium must be viewed as a missed opportunity given what played out.

More to follow.