Heart of Midlothian head coach Wouter Vrancken has blamed a mounting injury list for his side's 2-1 Premier Sports Cup semi-final defeat to Hibernian at Hampden Park, a loss that leaves the Jambos with 10 players unavailable.
Hearts took the lead after just three minutes through Claudio Braga's header, but first-half injuries to Tomas Magnusson and Calvin Miller coincided with Hibs turning the match around. Goals from Martin Boyle and Jamie McGrath put the Edinburgh rivals in front before the break.
Key injuries prove pivotal
Vrancken said losing two key men changed the course of the game. "I'm really sore and disappointed of course," he said. "Especially when you see how the game was going. It didn't have to go that way because we had control with how we started. But it changed the moment Tomas was injured, that's clear."
The Belgian added that the enforced changes disrupted his team's rhythm: "We lost some connections and weren't top in the duels. At first, we were picking up second balls and finding the right spaces. But then we lost those profiles and we were searching again. There were hesitations, and that gave Hibs too much space. You lose the game in that 20 minutes."
Hearts improved after half-time and dominated possession but could not find an equaliser. Vrancken noted the mental toll on his players: "The players have taken a lot of knocks mentally and emotionally so you just hope they get rewarded for fighting hard."
Casualty list reaches double figures
Vrancken confirmed the squad now has 10 players out, a situation he described as unprecedented in his career. "I've never known anything like this (with injuries). Nothing even close. I'm used to 98 percent availability last year, that was with Europe. The year before, it was 97 with Europe at my former teams," he said.
"Over the whole season, I don't think we can have 70 percent at any point already. It's really crazy. But OK, we have to deal with it. Unfortunately, in an all or nothing game like today, we couldn't make up for it."
Magnusson was taken to hospital after failing a concussion test on the pitch, while Miller is in a brace awaiting a scan. Vrancken said he has one fit midfielder in his Europa League squad for Thursday's trip to Swiss side FC Thun and will have to field players out of position.
No blame for Braga
The manager refused to criticise Braga, who missed several chances while the score was 2-1. "Claudio didn't do it on purpose. He was trying his best to help the team," Vrancken said. "It's just a pity we couldn't score another goal. It was the decision making, the last pass - it wasn't easy because they (Hibs) had so many numbers in there."
Hearts now miss the chance to face Rangers in the final on December 13. Vrancken said: "Everyone is disappointed, no matter the situation we're in. When you see the second half, you know there was something in the game today even with the knocks we got. So the disappointment is really big, not about losing players, but missing the chance to beat your rivals and go to the final."
