Hearts: Fanzone

David Poole, Longstone: "A really poor performance from Hearts. We looked really up for it at the start of the game and had a couple of wee half chances inside the first ten minutes or so. Had we taken either of those chances, it might have been a different story. However, we didn't and, after that, we were never really at the races.

"We didn't really get to grips with the game and we had to sustain a lot of pressure from Aberdeen. Unfortunately, with the chances we were giving them, it seemed like it was just a matter of time before they made the breakthrough and that's how it turned out.

"What was more frustrating than anything, though, was their opening goal definitely looked offside. In a tight, tense game, you need the officials to get the big decisions right and the linesman got that one wrong. We huffed and puffed a bit and, while the introduction of Nade improved us a bit, we never really looked like getting back into it and the second goal killed us off."

Ben Sneddon, Piershill: "A harsh lesson for a very youthful Hearts team. We were comfortably beaten here and had it not been for some really good goalkeeping from Marian Kello, we might have been on the wrong side of a hammering.

"We barely troubled a poor Aberdeen side and this result is a wake-up call to those who thought that our problems were over because we managed to string a few decent results together recently. The lack of strength in depth in our squad was exposed here and it just shows that when we have three or four players out, we don't have the players to replace them.

"Also, when you have so many young players, you look to the experienced players to carry them through games and that didn't happen here. Both of Aberdeen's goals looked offside but we can't just point the finger at the officials, we need to look at our own shortcomings too. For me, it is very important that we bring in some experienced players to play alongside the youngsters."

Iain Smith, Gilmerton: "A very poor display from Hearts. We looked like a completely different side from the team that battled so hard at Easter Road but, in the end, I think we had one absence too many to contend with. Both of Aberdeen's goals came down the left-hand side and while Rocky Visconte did well, especially considering it is not his natural position, I think that the fact that three of our left-sided players, Wallace, Goncalves and Palazuelos were missing created a gap in the side that we never managed to plug.

"Also, I feel that Csaba was wrong to pair Smith and Robinson. They are good individually but not as a partnership. They are not strong enough to hold the ball up and that meant that we were struggling to retain possession. As a result of that, we really struggled to get at Aberdeen and we had very few clear-cut openings until late on. It's a young, inexperienced Hearts side and they're on a steep learning curve. The defeat here is disappointing but the players need to get over it."