Hearts in meek Europa League surrender as Steven Naismith hears alarm bells ringing after Plzen slog – 3 talking points

Hearts failed to make the Europa League group stages after defeat to Czech outfit Viktoria Plzen at Tynecastle.

Steven Naismith’s side had to overturn a 1-0 first-leg defeat but were undone in Gorgie by Lukas Cerv’s second-half strike. The Jambos missed out on a £12 million Europa jackpot but now drop into the Conference League’s group phase. But Naismith - along with a disgruntled home crowd - will be disappointed by the manner of their exit. The Jam Tarts rarely tested Plzen keeper Marian Tvrdon all night when the tie was there for the taking.

Instead, they had veteran stopper Craig Gordon to thank for denying Daniel Vasulin and opening goal with a stunning point-blank save. Hearts’ best chance was a shot from distance from Gerald Taylor and Stephen Kingsley’s rebound that Tvrdon kept out. On 76 minutes, a poor pass from Frankie Kent was pounced on by Plzen with Cerv slotting home the decisive goal.

Naismith’s men were jeered off at full-time as the 2-0 aggregate loss capped off a miserable start to the new season. They’ve yet to win any of their six games so far this term in all competitions.

Hearts needed to score against Plzen to have any chance of reaching the Europa League group stage - but they badly missed their number one striker Lawrence Shankland. If this performance was an indication of what life would be like at Tynecastle without their talisman - it really doesn’t bear thinking about for the Gorgie faithful.

Shankland failed to make the starting line-up due to a knee injury which was a body blow to Steven Naismith before kick-off. The manager was forced to go with Liam Boyce and Kenneth Vargas up front in his absence but neither forward ever looked like scoring against the Czechs.

Boyce - who has come back