Hearts manager Robbie Neilson says he won't be hitting the panic button after his side's first defeat of the season.
Dunfermline saw off the Championship favourites with a 2-1 win as Neilson's former assistant Stevie Crawford frustrated the Jambos before taking their chances to soar to the league summit.
Dom Thomas and Euan Murray were on target for the Pars, who withstood a late onslaught from the visitors after Stephen Kingsley pulled a goal back with six minutes left.
It's an early dent in Hearts ' hopes to return to the Scottish Premiership but their manager wasn't flustered and outlined that the club are fighting on several fronts with a Scottish Cup final against Celtic to come next month.
Neilson said: “You’re going to lose football matches. The biggest thing for us is that it’s not panic stations. We’re still in a good position on the league and we’ve got the Scottish Cup final to look forward to.
“We’ve got the Betfred to look forward to, we’ve got a really good team, we created a lot of really good chances tonight but didn’t take them.
“Dunfermline will be like us; we’ll win games and lose games, that’s the way it’s going to be this season. It’s who’s got the consistency to continue to win games.
“Dunfermline will lose games as well and the big thing is how you react. Do we throw the toys out and say we need to do this and we need to do that?
“Or do we look at the game and say we created chances, we didn’t take them and lost two poor goals. It’s part of football.”
Winning gaffer Stevie Crawford is also refusing to get ahead of himself despite matching the title favourites all the way, with his defence standing firm against a potent Jambos attack.
He said: “The players showed a respect but with a belief in themselves and that’s what’s important to me. They’re a good side and have a very strong squad so it was going to be a marker for us in terms of where we're at.
“Hearts are still favourites for the league and that's not taking anything away from us.
“The Championship can be a very, very unforgiving league and within a couple of games you can find yourself at the other end of the table.
“We’ll enjoy the weekend but Hearts are a strong side and will be up there at the very end of the season.”
