Lawrence Shankland lost sleep over Brugge penalty blunder as Hearts star reveals 'it's the lowest I've felt in YEARS'

Hurting Lawrence Shankland sat in the bowels of the Jan Breydel Stadium and felt as low as he’s been in football.

But it wasn’t the abuse hurled from 3000 visiting Hearts fans that hurt in Belgium last month, it was the pain he felt missing a penalty that could have gained his side a draw and halted a torturous goal drought. The Scotland striker ended that drought on Saturday with a double against a disappointing Dundee side that had stretched for a dozen agonising games without a goal. The worst moment in that run was when the Tynecastle skipper and last season’s talisman stepped up late on from the penalty spot with a chance to level the Conference League game at Cercle Brugge.

Not only did he blaze it over the top, Hearts fans then turned on the man who scored 33 for club and country last season. Afterwards, Shankland cut a distraught figure. But he refused to bite back against the fans, stressing he was disgusted with himself for missing it – and he turned to mental skills coach John Johnstone.

Shankland said: “It was a tough night. It was probably the lowest night I’ve had in a good few years in football. I felt sorry for myself for a couple of hours and the next day I was ready to go again.

“I work mentally with a guy, John. I’ve worked with him for years and there have been moments like I’ve gone through recently that you work with him to get through the tougher times. Football is pretty easy, when things have gone well, everything just seems to fall into a rhythm. But when you come across moments like that you need to dig into what you’ve learnt over the years and back yourself, and be confident in the return. That’s what I’ve had to do.

“It wasn’t the abuse, it didn’t bother me. It was more just missing the