What now for Hearts and Neil Critchley after Scottish Cup semi loss?

Former Tynecastle striker and manager John Robertson suggested the game “kind of sums up the season” for Hearts.

“Close but not quite close enough,” he said on Sportsound. “Close to getting into the knockout stages of the Conference League, close to getting into the top six, close to getting it to penalties today, but not quite close enough.”

However, Robertson thought there was little more Critchley could have done, given Hearts were reduced to 10 men just before the break – when Michael Steinwender was sent off for a professional foul – then Cammy Devlin picked a second yellow card shortly before the Oday Dabbagh’s late winner.

“The first red, you couldn’t really argue,” he said. “The second, there’s no intent from Devlin, he’s just trying to hook the ball away and can’t see the Aberdeen player.

“They went to a 5-3-1, defended bravely and had sporadic attacks. It looked like they would get to the penalty kicks, but it was just pure numbers in the end.

“For the amount of bravery and effort they put in, they didn’t get what they deserved. Aberdeen weren’t particularly great today, but they are through.”

Fellow pundit Leanne Crichton agreed with Robertson’s pre-match suggestion that Tynecastle “could become a very toxic place until the end of the season”.

“For Hearts, it’s a real sucker punch after also not making the top six,” the former Scotland midfielder said. “A lot of home fans might decide to vote with their feet.”

BBC Scotland chief sports writer Tom English thought there were “nuances” to Hearts’ latest failure.

“I feel for Hearts because they emptied themselves with 10 men, then nine. They defended heroically for much of the afternoon.

“Where does it leave Neil Critchley? It is just another kick to the solar plexus. No top six, no final, I don’t know what the Hearts board are going to make of this.”