Neil Critchley decided to stick with Lawrence Shankland amid his rut and after his nightmare in Brugge.
The misfiring Hearts captain kept his place in the side to face Aberdeen yesterday with his equally underperforming teammate Kenneth Vargas the one to drop out for Musa Drammeh.
Shankland drew a blank again despite having a number of chances and half chances.
But Critchley insists it was an easy decision to keep the 29-year-old in his side despite the fact he has scored just once this season.
He remains convinced Shankland will find the net soon and then go on the sort of run we’ve seen from him before.
- READ MORE: Neil Critchley on Hearts double injury update and why they deserved more from Aberdeen draw
Neil Critchley on Hearts chats with Lawrence Shankland
Shankland missed a crucial penalty late in the Conference League loss to Cercle Brugge with the home side going on to build up a 2-0 lead shortly after.
The Hearts striker was the subject of angry chanting from his own support and Critchley was forced to defend Shankland post-match.
But he had no inclination to take the number nine out of the side for the visit of Aberdeen yesterday.
Critchley said: “Easy decision really. I spoke to him yesterday, gave him 24 hours to clear his head.
“And I just said to him, look, you’re the captain, you lead by example. You lead in the line brilliantly well.
“As long as we see that effort and endeavour and the commitment at the top end of the pitch, then there’s a lot more to your game than goals.
“Again, I think he showed that again today. I think [Nicky] Devlin, I don’t know, he’s got an unbelievable block.
“Some things just didn’t drop for him. At the end, when it falls for him for that volley, he’s well capable of scoring that. Sooner rather than later, I’m absolutely confident he’ll hit the back of the net.”
Asked if he had any concern about putting Shankland in given the treatment he got on Thursday, he added: “No, he’s a strong-willed boy. Obviously, he’s going to affect anyone, particularly the runner he’s on. He lives for goals, he’s a goal-scorer.
“Again, he could feel sorry for himself in this situation. It’s a real test for him. But he’ll come through it and he’ll get our support.
“And that’s what you do when you care about the people around you. We talk about the Harts family. You look after your family when they need you.”
Malachi Boateng rested for Hearts
Malachi Boateng, Beni Baningime and Cammy Devlin have shared centre midfield duties for Hearts since Neil Critchley took over.
All three actually started against Cercle but there wasn’t a need for as many defensive minded players for a home domestic game.
Boateng was the one to drop out after playing a lot of football recently and his manager insists he was purely rested.
“Yeah, pretty much,” he said. “Malachi, I think, has started every game since I’ve been here. I think Cammy’s been excellent recently. And Beni, yeah, he put a real shift in against Celtic.
“So it was always the plan to rotate them during the games this week. I think we made five changes today for this game. And by the end of the game, you couldn’t tell that we played on Thursday night.
“I thought our commitment and our energy right to the end of the game was outstanding.”
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 7 |  DundeeDundee | 14 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 23 | 26 | -3 | 16 |
| 8 |  Ross CountyRoss County | 15 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 27 | -15 | 15 |
| 9 |  ST JohnstoneST Johnstone | 15 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 17 | 28 | -11 | 13 |
| 10 |  KilmarnockKilmarnock | 14 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 16 | 27 | -11 | 13 |
| 11 |  HibernianHibernian | 15 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 18 | 25 | -7 | 12 |
| 12 |  Heart Of MidlothianHeart Of Midlothian | 15 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 16 | 25 | -9 | 10 |