Steven Naismith was left frustrated by Alex Cochrane's sending off against Celtic as the Hearts boss admitted his side are now facing two of their biggest games of the season.
The Jambos' hopes of a third place finish for the second straight season rest on their upcoming fixtures against St Mirren and Aberdeen, with the trip to Paisley now set to see Cochrane miss out after his dismissal at Tynecastle.
A pull back on Daizen Maeda initially saw the defender cautioned by referee Nick Walsh, but after a VAR review his yellow card was upgraded to a red for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity.
READ MORE: Hearts 0 Celtic 2 as Barrie McKay impresses amid Alex Cochrane VAR drama - three things we learned
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And Naismith did not agree with the decision as the interim Hearts gaffer felt the sending off killed their momentum after a strong first-half display saw the Gorgie side head down the tunnel level before going on to lose 2-0.
"I don't agree with it," said Naismith. "That is my opinion but there is still a bit of work to be done by Maeda as he heads into the box.
"He is travelling at speed, the ball is moving, and there are recovering players. I think the referee made the right call [initially] and that was disappointing because until that moment in the game we had the best chances.
"The game had been mainly played in the Celtic half and we had a real belief that we could get something from the game. Then it became harder.
"As soon as the red card happens, the game hinges on the first goal. It’s as simple as that. Credit to Celtic, the goal is very good, that's what they do and you see loads of their goals come from that same kind of movement.
"Their two goals come from the same movement but we worked really hard and when we look back there will be lots of positives for us. The next two games are the biggest of the season and they will define our season."
"Our players were in disbelief when the decision was checked and overturned because he still had a lot of work to do before he gets a finish.”
Ahead of their trip to face the Buddies this weekend, Naismith feels their next two games will define their campaign as they try to overhaul a five-point gap on Aberdeen and beat the Pittodrie club to third place.
"For us, the next games will be the biggest ones. This was going to be our toughest challenge but we equipped ourselves well," said Naismith.
"Before the game I said we would be aggressive and have our moments and we did that. We were brave defensively against the best forwards in the league and they never created too many until the red card.
"There are loads that we can take from it, loads of positives. I have said consistently that there’s a good group of players here, who want to do better, want to improve and be successful. In the last two performances, you can see that’s the case."
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