Hearts manager Craig Levein insists he will reinforce the positives of the Betfred Cup group campaign to his players following flak from fans at the weekend.
Levein bore the brunt of supporters’ anger after the top-flight club lost to League One East Fife on penalties following a 1-1 draw in 90 minutes.
The Gorgie side still progressed to the last 16, where they face an away trip to Motherwell, as Group A winners but that did little to stem the rage among the travelling support in Methil.
However, former Scotland boss Levein admits the four-game group section was largely encouraging.
Levein, whose side begin their Premiership campaign away to Aberdeen on Sunday, said: “Our fans expect to win and so do we. Our objective was to get into the Betfred Cup’s last 16 and we did that. Now we can focus on the league.
“I’ve watched all four games back and we did a lot of good things. They are overshadowed if you aren’t winning 3-0 or 4-0.”
