Hearts reaction: No blame game as Steven Naismith refutes Plzen claims and explains keeper situation

The Jambos’ looked to have earned a 0-0 draw in Czechia ahead of next Thursday’s second leg at Tynecastle, only for Oyegoke to divert a cross past his own goalkeeper Craig Gordon in the final action of the match. However, Naismith praised the substitute’s overall contribution and reckons the tie is finely poised heading back to Gorgie.

“There's no blame attached,” said Naismith of Oyegoke’s unfortunate own goal. “It's one moment in a game. I thought when Daniel came on he was really good and he was aggressive defensively.

“You go into every game wanting to win and if not then you want to draw. When you get a defeat you are disappointed but there are loads of positives. The tie is in the balance. It would be nice to go back to Tynie at 0-0. We need to make sure Tynie is rocking and hopefully put on a similar performance and take some of the good chances we had tonight.

“It’s small margins in football. I've been here as a player. Overall the performance was excellent. We were disciplined out of possession and understood when to win the ball. We started well and took 10 minutes to get real belief we could hurt them, after that we did. It's a really close tie. It's a blow losing the goal. Last season was similar and this was a better performance than Rosenborg. We know we are still right in the tie.

“Inevitably it will be a different tie at Tynecastle, like Rosenborg last year. We'll have 18,000 fans, the atmosphere will be electric and we will be the comfort of our home stadium. Being at home, we hope to create as good or better chances as tonight but we need to understand Plzen have a real threat. They have a style and system they play regardless. Being at home with the fans behind us will definitely make an impact.”

Goalkeeper Gordon set a new Hearts record for by making his 23rd European appearance at the Doosan Arena. Fellow goalkeeper Zander Clark had a back problem but Naismith revealed that Gordon was always going to be stripped in Plzen. “Craig was always going to start,” said Naismith. “We found out Zander had a back spasm today. It's another record Craig has managed to get. He showed his quality in particular with one of the saves tonight. It's a disappointing result but a good night for Craig.”

Naismith also refuted a claim from Viktoria Plzen that his players adopted time-wasting tactics. “No. Both teams' players at times went down to try and get a foul,” he added. “Both teams got some and didn't get some. It's European football over two legs. Tactics from both teams were very similar.”