Wouter Vrancken claimed Hearts were unable to cope with the double blow of losing Tomas Magnusson and Calvin Miller as their hopes of lifting the Premier Sports Cup ended with a 2-1 defeat by Hibs.

Already missing eight first-team players, the Tynecastle men were further depleted when the pair left the field inside the opening 38 minutes of their semi-final at Hampden.

Vrancken felt the loss of two more key players was instrumental in his side failing to build on the early lead handed to them by Claudio Braga. 

Instead, Hibs hit back with goals by Martin Boyle and Jamie McGrath to secure a place in next month's final against Rangers. 

'I'm really sore and disappointed, of course, especially when you see how the game was going,' said Vrancken.

'It didn't have to go that way because we had control with how we started.

'But it changed the moment Tomas was injured, that's clear. And then afterwards with Cal.

'I'm not pointing out the guys who came out, but those changes took us out of our rhythm.

'We lost some connections and weren't top in the duels. At first, we were picking up second balls and finding the right spaces.

'But then we lost those profiles and we were searching again. There were hesitations and that gave Hibs too much space.

'You lose the game in that 20 minutes. At half-time, we tried to make adjustments, be clear and try to take those hesitations out.

'It was much better and we dominated the game again.

'Unfortunately, we didn't get rewarded. The players have taken a lot of knocks mentally and emotionally so you just hope they get rewarded for fighting hard.

'It's a pity they didn't especially in such a game.'

Magnusson came off with a head-knock while Miller succumbed to what appeared to be a knee injury.

'I haven't seen Tomas because he's at hospital,' Vrancken explained.

'Calvin is in a brace, but it's difficult to say. We have to wait for a scan tomorrow.

'With Tomas, the medical staff did a concussion test on the pitch at that moment.

'He passed it but when he came to me, he was going from left to right and couldn't stand on his legs any more.

'When I saw that, there was no doubt in my head about letting him back on the pitch. He said, I can't do it.'

Vrancken now faces serious selection issues for the Conference League match away to Swiss side Thun on Thursday.

'I don't know how I make changes. We'll see how it goes and who's fit,' he said.

'Players will have to play out of position, so we'll see who has the quality to play in certain ones.

'We have to make the puzzle on Monday or Tuesday.

'And we have to keep pushing the guys because when you go on the pitch, there can be no excuses, you have to take responsibility, go for it and try to win the game.

'We have 10 out. When you have those 10, you have a really good squad in the Premiership.

'The players have taken responsibility in difficult moments, like dominating parts of the game today.

'When they do that, you just hope they reward themselves like they did today in the second half. It's just a pity the last 20 minutes of the first half which killed the game.

'Everyone is disappointed, no matter the situation we're in.

'When you see the second half, you know there was something in the game today even with the knocks we got.

'So, the disappointment is really big, not about losing players, but missing the chance to beat your rivals and go to the final.'