Steven Naismith insists Hearts should NEVER have let third place slip after blowing an 11-point lead over Aberdeen.
The Jambos saw their hopes of catching the Dons ended on Wednesday night as Barry Robson's side swept past St Mirren to claim the best of the rest tag. Their cruise to a 3-0 win over St Mirren at Pittodrie left the capital club needing to take all three points from Ibrox to take the race to the final day.
They got off to the perfect start thanks to a first minute Lawrence Shankland goal, but Todd Cantwell and Fashion Sakala turned things around for Rangers, meaning Garang Kuol’s last gasp equaliser was too little, too late. Hearts now face an Edinburgh derby shootout on Saturday for fourth place, knowing avoiding defeat to Hibs at Tynecastle will see them earn a Europa Conference League third qualifying round berth. But Naismith reckons they should be preparing for a second successive group stage campaign and blamed “soft” goals for them missing out this time around.
