Neil Critchley insisted Hearts did not deserve to lose after they dropped their first Conference League points in a 2-0 defeat at home to Bundesliga side Heidenheim.

The Edinburgh outfit, who had won their first two games in the competition, were on top in the first half and spurned a host of chances to get themselves in front.

However, the Germans gained the upper hand after the break and broke the deadlock in the 57th minute through Sirlord Conteh before Jan Schoppner sealed their win in the last minute.

“You have to score when you’re on top,” said Critchley. “You have to take those chances. We weren’t clinical in front of goal, and then we’ve got punished by two real moments of quality, the first goal in particular.

“I’m disappointed with the result but not the performance. I thought we played just equally as well tonight as we did against Omonia. We just didn’t score when we were on top.

“If we had taken our chances, then I think the game was there for us to win. I thought the attitude of the players and mentality was good. We went right to the end. I’m just disappointed.

“Sometimes you don’t get what you deserve. And I don’t think we got what we deserved tonight.

“We played against good opposition. We went toe-to-toe in a real good competitive game, European game, good atmosphere, and, unfortunately, we’ve come out the wrong side tonight.”

Hearts are currently 12th in the 36-team Conference League table and, with a trip to Cercle Brugge next up in three weeks, remain on course to stay in the competition beyond Christmas.

“Yeah, I think we’re pretty well placed,” he said. “Winning tonight would have helped, but if we keep producing that level of performance, then we’ll win games of football.

“The test for us is to keep showing that mentality, keep showing the same attitude, keep showing the ability that we showed on the ball as well.

“We produced some really good moves, good moments. The only thing missing tonight was the final bit.”

Heidenheim have won all three of their matches ahead of their visit from Chelsea in four weeks. Manager Frank Schmidt said: “It was a difficult first half, so well done to Hearts for that.

“They made it really difficult for us. Hearts played very well.

“They really put us under pressure. I also think after a couple of less-than-ideal results, our confidence was not so high.

“We managed to get more involved in the second half, we were defensively strong and more clinical in attack.”