Hearts head coach Ian Cathro admits he and his players have to win back the trust of the Tynecaste fans following one of the worst experiences he expects to endure.

The 30-year-old is less than three months into management but Wednesday's 3-1 derby defeat by Hibernian in the William Hill Scottish Cup fifth round has already proved a watershed moment.

The former Rio Ave, Valencia and Newcastle coach knows he has to ditch all talk of his long-term project and urge his players to take a step back and prove they have the passion to improve performances.

Cathro accused his players of lacking fight and failing to do the basics at Easter Road and he wants a major reaction in Saturday's Ladbrokes Premiership fixture against Partick Thistle at Firhill.

The former Dundee United and Scottish Football Association youth coach, who has won four of his 13 matches in charge, said: "The analysis of the game was a simple one, one of the easiest we have had and we did that immediately after the game.

"It was an entirely unacceptable performance and one of the worst days that I expect to go through.

"We can't make up for Wednesday, I know that and we know that. It's gone and we can't make up for it.

"What we have to do is deal properly with what's ahead of us and very, very quickly give people reasons to trust us again, trust the performance that we give for the club, trust all of us in every single action in the game, and start immediately giving everyone reasons to look forward to what we do from here on in.

"Later down the line we can talk about other things and excitement and all the things we can achieve but we have lost the right to talk about those things just now because of what happened on Wednesday.

"I understand that, we understand that, so we won't talk in those terms just now. We will talk about making sure we win back the trust of everybody who loves the club."

Cathro insists that his players share the pain of the fans following their derby defeat, a seventh game in a row which Hearts have failed to beat their city rivals.

"We all know, we all know," he said. "We all feel the pain, we all feel the hurt, we all know the magnitude of the game, and to lose in that manner in any game is a horrible feeling. To deliver what we delivered in a game of that magnitude is worse."

Cathro claimed that shape or systems had "absolutely nothing" to do with their poor display and bemoaned "simple, simple, simple, issues that can't happen in any team's performance in any type of football in any type of system".

But he also maintained that there was enough spirit in his squad - which includes nine of his January signings.

"We had a very, very, very bad night, a very bad night, but we have not forgotten how to play, we have not forgotten how to fight," he said. "They have not gone.

"They weren't there on Wednesday but they are not gone. It's not as extreme, it's bad but it's not as extreme. That's our starting point, that everyone has it.

"We all know, everybody knows, and at this moment we will leave it at that. We have all got a very important job to do for everyone come three o'clock on Saturday."

Defender Aaron Hughes agreed that they owed the supporters but he argued that they could not afford to dwell too much on the Easter Road loss.

"While we have to be fully aware of what happened on Wednesday, and understand the impact that had on everyone who loves Hearts, we have to look at what we can do to go a little way to putting that right," the 37-year-old said.

"Because we can't mend everything in one game, but we can start the process again of building things back up and getting ourselves back on track.

"In football in general, you can have a bad game and it can be forgiven. When your character comes into question on the passion side of things, that hurts a little bit more as a player.

"It's also another very good reason to go out and respond in the right way and show people that we do care, that we do want to turn things round."