Dunfermline remain just a point off bottom place in the SPL, having accrued a solitary point in the last six league matches.
After the Pars’ loss to Hearts at East End Park on Saturday, striker Andy Kirk admitted self-induced blunders are costing the club dearly.
Kirk said: “There was a couple of mistakes and, the way things are at the moment, every time we make a mistake we seem to get punished.
“That happens in football and the higher up the leagues you go, the more you get punished.
“The performance was a lot better, though. We had to come out and show something because the performance against Rangers and Aberdeen were not good at all so we knew we had to come out and give a performance.
“There was not much in the game. A couple of mistakes have cost us. We have to take a lot of confidence from the performance and look to build on it next week.”
Rudi Skacel led Hearts to victory, first by forcing keeper Paul Gallagher into a save that earned a corner.
Andy Webster took full advantage to convert Danny Grainger’s corner after a defensive mix-up at the near post before Skacel popped up again in the second half to seal the win.
Gallagher was unlucky again as he pulled off a great save from David Templeton but Skacel was in the right place at the right time to slot home the rebound.