Hearts manager Gary Locke insists his players must make amends to supporters by bouncing back from their thrashing at the hands of Celtic when they face Dundee United.
The Jambos were sent crashing out of the William Hill Scottish Cup in humiliating style on Sunday after slumping to a 7-0 loss.
Locke admits the heavy defeat was particularly hard to take in what has been a tough campaign for the administration-hit outfit, who started the league season with a 15-point deduction, but he believes Hearts must pick themselves back up again and respond with a win at Tannadice on Saturday.
Locke told HeartsTV: “We went over it yesterday. It was important we analysed it and it’s important we try to eradicate the mistakes.
“It’s also important that we get it out of our systems. We don’t want to dwell on it. There are always results in football that shock you.
“You look at Tottenham going to Manchester City the other week, with the quality they’ve got in their squad, and you wouldn’t have thought they’d lose six goals.
“It’s happened and we are all really disappointed, but we were more disappointed for the supporters. Our fans didn’t deserve that and it’s important we learn from it.”
Locke added: “The boys have done fantastically well and it’s important we remember that. We’re hoping Sunday was a blip.
“It was maybe the case it was always going to happen at some point. I’m more than confident with this group of players that we’ll get the right response this weekend.”
Locke also has injury concerns, with Ryan Stevenson struggling (hamstring) and second-choice goalkeeper Mark Ridgers set to go under the knife to cure a knee problem that will sideline him for around four weeks.