Hearts insist there's no need to hit panic button after Dundee loss and consecutive defeats

For those at the club, that fact is evidence enough there’s no need to hit the panic button. The course will soon be corrected, they’ll get back to confidentally marching toward third place and complete an excellent achievement of getting back into Europe in their first season following promotion back to the cinch Premiership.

Before league duty resumes a week on Saturday with a trip to St Johnstone, there’s the matter of a visit from David Martindale’s Livingston in the fifth round of the Scottish Cup. Prior to last season’s humiliation at the hands of Brora Rangers, Hearts had reached the final in consecutive years, going down narrowly to Celtic in both meetings.

Expectations have been raised since the beginning of this season and, given the quality in the squad, supporters will not stand for an early exit unless it comes at the hands of runaway favourites Celtic or Rangers, especially given the recent rough patch. This is a real chance for their club to do some real damage in the competition and such an opportunity cannot be wasted.

Ahead of the tie at Tynecastle, returning veteran Michael Smith revealed there had been no big inquisitions or team meetings over the last couple of days. It’s just a case of the team focusing on the task at hand and replicating the type of performance witnessed over the majority of the campaign.

“We don't have to reset anything,” said the Northern Irishman. “We're sitting third in the league, ten points clear in third so we don't have to have a crisis meeting. We just have to get back to what we've been good at in the first half of the season.

“Yeah, we've had two bad results in a row, and luckily other results have went our way and we've still got that gap, but we're not going to panic