Hearts boss Wouter Vrancken insisted he was proud of the effort from his players despite a 2-0 defeat to Mo Salah’s Trabzonspor in the UEFA Conference League.

Seeking to bounce back from a 7-1 thrashing against Celtic last weekend, Hearts were much-improved against the big-spending Turkish outfit.

They were competitive throughout the match, with Malachi Fagan-Walcott missing a huge early chance to put them 1-0 up, and ultimately gave a solid account of themselves.

Amidst an injury crisis which continues to worsen at every turn, and with Vrancken forced to field a depleted team with several players out of position, they emerged with credit.

Left-back Harry Milne suffered a knee injury in training on Wednesday night and could be set for a lengthy spell out of action, while right-back Christian Borchgrevink also went off injured with a hamstring strain last night.

Former Liverpool star Salah was the hero for the home side, scoring the first from the penalty spot before teeing up the second for strike partner Franculino, but Vrancken insisted there were a lot of positives.

With his team down to the bare bones, the Hearts boss said: ‘I was happy to see that we could put our foot next to Trabzonspor.

‘You know the qualities they have, and you know the money they spent, the quality of the players. With Salah, still one of the best in Europe.

‘At the same time, we had to miss six central midfielders and a bunch of defenders. But yeah, really proud of the guys and the performance today. We stuck together, we fought as a team, and also on the ball we had quality.

‘We had chances and I think we showed our quality at times. I am proud of the guys and what they did. I think they deserve credit. It’s just a pity that you cannot have a result.

‘On the other hand, we bounced back, I think, from the weekend, and we have to take this feeling to the next weekend.’

In the end, it was Rogers Mato who had to deputise as a makeshift left-back following the injury to Milne.

Normally a forward player, Mato actually gave a decent account of himself up against Salah. But Vrancken confirmed that Hearts will now anxiously await the scan results on Milne’s knee injury once they return to Scotland.

On the Milne injury, Vrancken added: ‘Yeah, unbelievable actually, because without contact, he got an injury.

‘We’ll see probably when we’re back when we can make a scan to see how it is.

‘It’s crazy because now it’s not about fatigue, it’s not about contact, it’s not about anything, this with him is just bad luck now. It’s his knee.’