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Ian Cathro insisted there was nothing unusual about input from the stand at Pittodrie

Hearts head coach Ian Cathro played down input from director of football Craig Levein during the 2-0 defeat by Aberdeen at Pittodrie.

Cathro was asked about information passed down from Levein.

"I work in a certain way, I'm very much used to working with a collective staff," explained Cathro.

"I've always been involved with technical staff that has people in different vantage points connected to us throughout the game."

It was an eighth defeat in 17 matches since Cathro took over from Robbie Neilson in December, with that sequence including four wins.

Coach Jon Daly (left) was seen passing information between Levein (right) and Cathro

"I think what's happening is you're trying to search for an alternative storyline which I know has been used before with the previous head coach," said Cathro of Levein's input.

"Everything that you see or focus on or want to try and create as a story are entirely normal things.

"I would suggest that today's stories are related to what's happened inside the 90 minutes and to not waste too much time inventing other things.

"You've probably got to look at the schematics of Pittodrie - there's not that much space. We work in a very, very clear way."

Aberdeen were comfortable winners, moving 17 points clear of Hearts, who drop to fifth in the table.

Shay Logan and Jonny Hayes were on target for the Dons, who maintained their eight-point advantage over Rangers in the race for second place.

"It's a situation where Aberdeen have shown they're in a position where they're stronger, more routined, and managed to take the victory," added Cathro.

"There were some positive parts to our play, we had some opportunities, and it comes down to clinical finishing, sometimes clinical defending, the ruthlessness, the quickness in dealing with things, and we suffered from that today."