Hearts fell to their heaviest ever European defeat in a two-legged tie as Sturm Graz ran out 6-0 aggregate winners in the Champions League qualifier, with second half goals from Simon Seidl and Emran Soglo at Tynecastle adding to a 4-0 first leg loss.
Hearts now need to pick themselves for Saturday evening’s Premiership opener at Pittodrie, but they look set to be without Stephen Kingsley, who hobbled off before half time with a hamstring injury, while Alexandros Kyziridis also limped off with cramp in the second half.
Vrancken on preparation
Manager Wouter Vrancken, who has only had a month to work with his new-look side since replacing Derek McInnes, admitted: “I think it's two times a bit the same. First half hour, both games actually good. And then the first 15 minutes or so from second half…
“But then you see the physical part and you see maybe also the difference in six weeks of preparation and three weeks of preparation.
“You cannot hide it, especially not on that level. And until then it was good.
“We played first half, for example, we were good and we didn't reward ourselves. But maybe again, sharpness where you have to be fresh in front of the goal to finish it.
“We had a lot of energy, a lot of intensity, a lot of good intentions towards their goal and you didn't reward yourself and it's the same story.”
Lack of goals not a concern
Hearts carved out glaring opportunities in both legs but failed to net, with Claudio Braga leading the line in the second leg. But Vrancken insisted he is not worried by the lack of goals.
He said: “I’m not worried because again, the sharpness is an important thing and you have to have the physical volume, there's a base of where the intensity comes from.
“And when you have this then it's also more clear in your head, let's call it like this, to have this last step to finish it.
“When you see the first hour, let's call it like this, two games, then I'm confident in the way they want to play or the way the guys play that will come and will be better and even improve.
“And then there's the physical part and this is step by step of course and that's also why we've managed the minutes before, what we talked about before already.
“But that you cannot switch on one day or one week or so as a process and physical thing.”
Scottish football and what's next
Asked if Scottish football should be embarrassed by the inability to reach the group stage of European football, Vrancken added: “We play against a side who is comfortable in group stages in Europe.
“So for sure, it's not an easy game there and like I said, three weeks against six weeks against this experienced team, it's a lot of difference and then you need all the details to follow your way.”
Hearts now tumble into the Europa League qualifiers where they will face either St Gallen of Switzerland or Portuguese giants Benfica. Before that comes Saturday’s league opener at Pittodrie.
New signing Laurent Mendy comes into contention in midfield, but Kingsley’s injury is a concern.
Vrancken said: “Depending on how Laurent adapts and how he pushes himself, because it's the same with him there. He trained a few weeks individually, so it's not the same rhythm-wise than in a team session.
“We'll see day by day. I hope that he can be ready. I think he did already well in the sessions he did, but again, it was sessions towards the game now, today.
“So it was not with a lot of physical load, the physical load he did separately, and now we have to see how he adapts in the sessions.
“With Kings, we have to see, because he has also the history (of the hamstring injury) so we have to be careful with this.”
