Steven Naismith bemoans Hearts 'immaturity' that cost them against Rangers as he offers Macaulay Tait defence

Hearts boss Steven Naismith admitted his young side lacked the maturity to see off Rangers at Hampden.

Naismith watched on in disbelief as the Tynecastle outfit got off to a nightmare semi-final start by falling behind to a quickfire opener from Cyriel Dessers inside the opening five minutes. And the dream of a return to Hampden for the May 25 showpiece was ended when the same player struck again 13 minutes from time to seal a 2-0 win and set up an end of season showdown against Celtic.

But Naismith believes his players could have made a better fit of it had they not lost their nerve in the final third of the pitch. He said: “I’m frustrated, disappointed obviously with the outcome. That is the overriding emotion at the moment. We got off to a terrible start. We can’t be losing a cheap, early goal like we did but the reaction for me until the second goal was good.

“I thought we controlled the ball a lot better and created opportunities. And then I think what you see is our immaturity in the final third. We had four or five really good situations and we either picked the wrong option or we overhit a pass and in those moments we must hit the target or make the goalie make a save or score a goal.

“That was the biggest frustration. We had good opportunities that we didn’t take and the goals we conceded were cheap. These moments are hard to take for players. Everyone is gutted and disappointed. We got brilliant backing from 19,500 fans.

“There were some good moments in the game. The players will look back and be frustrated at the chances we give for the goals and for the opportunities that fell our way, and what they could have done.

“But the more you do something the more you learn and the better decisions you make. That