Wouter Vrancken lamented his Hearts side's inefficiency in both penalty areas following a disastrous 4-0 defeat in the first leg of their Champions League second qualifying round tie against Sturm Graz in Austria.

It marked a difficult start for the Belgian coach, who took over from Derek McInnes this summer. Despite enjoying significant possession and creating numerous chances in the opposition box, Hearts suffered a heavy loss that severely damages their prospects of advancing in the competition.

Sturm Graz secured their commanding lead with goals from Jon Stankovic, Jeyland Mitchell, Luca Weindhandl, and Jurgen Heil. Hearts were particularly vulnerable to set pieces, conceding twice from such situations at the beginning of each half. The Scottish side also squandered clear-cut opportunities when the score was still level, with Pierre Landry-Kabore and Alexander Kyziridis noted as being particularly wasteful.

"We didn't start too badly but then conceded from a set piece," Vrancken stated after the match. "That was the summary of the game, we got killed by two set pieces at the start of the first half and second half."

He added that his team struggled to regain composure after conceding the initial goal. "After the first goal, we needed some minutes to come back into it and find our confidence again. We did pretty well and created a lot of chances which we needed to do much better with. They were 100 percent chances and at this level, you have to score them." Vrancken expressed confidence at halftime that a comeback was possible.

However, the concession of another set-piece goal early in the second half, shortly after missing another good chance, proved demoralizing. "Then it is difficult in their heads for the players. Sometimes you try to force it and make it more difficult for yourself. When you don't kill (teams) yourself, you get killed. It's a pity," Vrancken commented.

"We had to be more efficient and Sturm Graz were more efficient than us tonight. It's no excuse. We showed in the game that we had a lot of possession and created a lot of chances from it."

Hearts now appear destined for the Europa League, where they would face either Benfica or St Gallen in the third qualifying round. Nevertheless, Vrancken insists he has not abandoned hope for a significant turnaround in the return leg at Tynecastle next Tuesday.

"You have to believe it," he urged. "Especially at Tynecastle with the support of our fans. The ones who were here tonight were amazing, even with this result. So we have go full out next week. If we are more efficient in the first half, then you never know. We could score some goals and there could be magic there. In this scenario, we still have to believe it."