The excuses may be piling up just like the missed chances which cost Hearts so dearly against Aberdeen on Sunday.
But Lawrence Shankland insists none of them will wash as the freefalling Jambos look to arrest the slide starting against Celtic on Saturday. A hectic schedule of domestic and European fixtures is beginning to take its toll on Robbie Neilson’s side with an injury list now in double figures coinciding with a run that’s seen them lose four and draw one of their last five outings.
Key figures including Craig Halkett, Kye Rowles, Liam Boyce, Beni Baningime, Nat Atkinson and Michael Smith missed the trip north while Andy Halliday and Peter Haring hobbled off to add to the woes. Throw in the fact their return from Thursday’s Europa League thrashing to Fiorentina in Italy gave no time to iron out issues on the training ground before they were back on the road to Pittodrie on Sunday means the Jambos management could be excused for using diversion tactics to explain their deteriorating form.
But Shankland says that won’t be the case as they focus on conversions and not diversions to turn their fortunes around after slipping to seventh. The frustrated Jambo said: “It’s only October, it’s hardly a disaster but things aren’t going the way we want them to just now.
“You can always turn things around, that’s just the way football is. We need to get over this, get it out of the way and move onto Celtic next week and make sure we are ready to go.
“It’s mad, I think there are 11 first team members out now, which obviously doesn’t help. But we can’t use it as an excuse.
“There is enough out there to go and win football matches and the ones who are fit need to dig in and do what we can to win. The week will give us a week of normal training, there is no travel involved.
“We travelled to Italy and then straight on to here, which is difficult for a squad that hasn’t done it before. There’s a lot of adaptation to be done but that’s not an excuse.
“If we had gone out and converted our chances we’d probably have won that game. We need to be at it all the time. To be fair, I don’t think we were miles off it at Aberdeen, we started the game really well and as the game went on maybe the guys who played the other night started to tire.
“Aberdeen were fresher finishing the game and that’s where they got the two goals. We just need to get back in there and get ready for Celtic.”
Hearts badly need a result against the league leaders to get a solid foothold on a season slipping out of control. The normally lethal Shankland was one of a number of Hearts stars who passed up guilt-edged chances to get their noses in front against the Dons before they were made to pay in the final 20 minutes.
Shanks fired wide from good positions either side of the interval while Alex Cochrane fluffed his lines from six yards midway through the first half and Stephen Humphrys was foiled in a one-on-one with Kelle Roos.
The keeper also pulled off a good save from Shankland right on the stroke of half time. The 27-year-old, who has six goals to his name this season, said: “It was a frustrating one to lose. We created enough in the game to score.
“I had a decent chance, Cochrane had one in the first half. And we probably gave away two cheap goals as well. It’s not a good combination.
“That seems to be the way it is at the moment. The ball just won’t go in the net.
“There was enough there for us to see that we did create. Unfortunately we couldn’t convert. We did enough to score but we didn’t and Aberdeen went up the park and took their chances.
“That’s where the frustration comes. For my chance in the second half it was a good ball from Cochrane and I knew I was beyond the front post.
“So I have just tried to open up my foot and I didn’t get enough contact on it. I have got to do better. I have got to score, essentially.
“You can’t beat yourself up but you know you need to convert. Humphs as well at the start of the second half, he tries to take it around their keeper and he gets a touch.
“We know ourselves what chances we had, and we needed to score them. It’s frustrating.”
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