Midfielder Dante Polvara has warned Aberdeen must learn not to lose their heads when suffering a setback.
Polvara reckons the Dons lost their cool after a Bojan Miovski goal was controversially chalked off following a VAR review before falling behind to a penalty.
Aberdeen went on to lose 2-0 at Tynecastle in a defeat that effectively extinguished any hopes of finishing third in the Premiership.
Third-placed Hearts have opened up a massive 19-point advantage over the Dons, although the Reds hold three games in hand.
Polvara reckons Aberdeen must learn how to deal with blows.
He said: “The lesson was about not losing our heads.
“It was a very frustrating afternoon.
“It’s always a sore one when you feel like you’ve played quite well and controlled large parts of the game but come away with nothing.
“And when you have been unlucky with some decisions.
‘It’s a tough one to take.
“Especially when you are playing away from home, you have to put together a performance for 90 minutes.
“I think that that’s where we have to really look at ourselves – to improve towards the end of a game.
“When you concede a second goal, you put yourself in a very tough position.
“We have to keep that control and keep pushing but in a responsible manner for protecting the back.”
Frustration at Miovski goal decision
The clash against Hearts was a must-win in terms of Aberdeen’s bid to secure back-to-back third-placed Premiership finishes.
Aberdeen had the ball in the back of the net midway through the first half via a sensational Miovski strike.
However the goal was chalked off following a VAR review for a foul by Miovski on Beni Baningime during the build up.
Hearts then went ahead in the second half when a penalty was awarded for handball by Nicky Devlin following a VAR review.
Jorge Grant converted the spot-kick.
Lawrence Shankland made it 2-0 with a sensational finish as Aberdeen’s top three hopes suffered a probable fatal blow in Edinburgh.
Polvara, 23, said: “If Bojan’s goal had stood…
“I felt like we were playing well at the time.
“To be fair, when that decision goes against us, it’s easy to go into a bad rhythm.
“It’s a great finish and it is bad luck.
“Sometimes, the odds are stacked against you.
“I haven’t seen it back so I can’t really speak about it.
“But if there’s a foul, there’s a foul, right?
“I wasn’t too sure what it was being checked for.
“I’d seen a boy trip up.
“From what I saw, I thought it was his own player. I couldn’t really see exactly where Bojan was.
“Our centre-half was claiming there was a foul on Bojan earlier.
“There seemed to be a few big shouts.”
‘We are always going to go for it’
Aberdeen have not beaten Hearts at Tynecastle in the Premiership since May 2017.
Last season the Dons, under Robson, went on a seven game league winning streak to overhaul Hearts’ nine-point advantage to finish third.
That third-placed finish secured European group stage football and a Euro cash bonanza of £5 million for the Dons.
Polvara insists the Dons should have reacted better to setbacks at Tynecastle in a game pivotal to the bid for third.
He said: “After (Miovski’s disallowed goal) you’ve just got to keep going and find a way to get another one.
“If you go 1-0 up away and are playing well, if you keep that going to half-time, the feeling is then very different.
“Then you concede a penalty a few minutes into the second half.
“It is tough when you are away from home against a good team.
“You know they are big rivals in terms of the table so we are always going to really go for it.”
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