DON Cowie last night warned his Hearts team mates it is not just their manager Ian Cathro whose future is under threat - and predicted that players could be offloaded if their form fails to improve.

The Tynecastle club’s supporters turned on Cathro as their team was held to a 2-2 draw by Championship rivals Dunfermline at home on Saturday and crashed out of the Betfred Cup before the knockout rounds.

The result came just days after a 2-1 defeat to part-time League Two club Peterhead and increased the pressure on the manager, whose side take on Celtic at Parkhead in their opening Premiership match this weekend, hugely.

Cowie, the experienced midfielder who opened the scoring in the first half against Dunfermline, admitted that he felt for the 31-year-old and was determined to help him survive by making a strong start to their league campaign.

The former Scotland internationalist believes members of the Hearts squad could be deemed surplus to requirements unless they start to perform at a far higher level than they have done in their last two outings.

“The fans have got every right to be upset,” he said. “To go out was unacceptable. We've got to regroup. It’s the start of the season and we have not kicked a ball in the league. But what a chance it is for us to turn that on its head next week away to Celtic. In football, you have a game around the corner to put it to bed.

"We've got to get on with it. We have four massive away games (Hearts play Kilmarnock, Rangers and Motherwell after taking on Celtic) which are not going to be easy, we know that. But that's football. Part of the pressure of being at such a high-profile club like Hearts. You have just got to deal with it and the majority of us are not doing that. The sooner we do, the better.

“You just have to grow up and accept that's football. You are at a club where fans expect you to win games. If people want to further their careers then they just have to man up to it and get on with it. It's only going to get worse the older you get with the places you play at. If you're not willing to deal with it then I am sure they will get other players to do that.

"We all know the time span of a manager these days is very short, so it is only natural we want to get wins on the board. I feel for him because we wanted to get out of the group stage and we should have done that, but the bottom line is we've not. The only way we can repay him as players is by getting off to a flier in the league.”

Cowie admitted there had been a frank exchange of views in the Hearts dressing room after the Dunfermline game where it was driven home that players have to cope with the pressurised situation they are now in.

"We've just said in the dressing room that if you want to have a good career and take it to good places and have a good go at it, then it only gets worse,” he said. “The pressure gets higher, the demands get higher. So what better place to do it than start here because it will stand you in good stead in your career.

"We've not achieved what we wanted so we had to speak and say we had to speak up. There's no beating about the bush, it has not been good enough. The only good thing for us is that it wasn't in the league, we haven't kicked a ball in the league yet.

“It is up to us to get those fans back on our side. When they are, it's a difficult place to come. I know what it is like. Once the stand is finished, it's going to be a difficult arena and we need to give them results the fans deserve."

“It's a two way thing. The manager says his bit, we say our bit because at the end of the day, we all want to improve. We have to say the things we need to say in order for that to happen."