Laszlo admits slow starts are hampering Hearts

The Parkhead side all but made sure of the points 13 minutes later when former Hibs player Gary Caldwell forced a second over the line.

It is not the first time the Tynecastle outfit have lost out because of early errors, having already dropped points to Falkirk, Kilmarnock, Hibs and Aberdeen in similar fashion.

Former Hearts winger Neil McCann scored after just three minutes back in September to send the Bairns on their way to a 2-1 victory and, three weeks later a Mehdi Taouil strike inside the first 19 minutes was the inspiration for Kilmarnock as they racked up an identical scoreline.

Laszlo's side also leaked a goal with less then 80 seconds gone of the first Edinburgh derby of the season – a match which ended level thanks to a strike from Bruno Aguiar – and, the following week, had to come from behind again at Pittodrie to rescue a share of the spoils after Darren Mackie had opened the scoring in 13 minutes.

The Hearts boss admitted that his side suffered from the same problem on their pre-season tour of Germany and stressed that it has to be eradicated now if they want to make a push for Europe.

Speaking of Maloney's goal, Laszlo said: "After six minutes it was like somebody putting a knife in your heart. This is a big question for me, we must stop this. Every game we begin with 1-0 for the opponents, this is terrible. The concentration must be there, we work on it and the players know this. It began with the (pre-season] game in Germany against Wiesbaden. After two seconds it was 1-0, then it happened against Hibs and Aberdeen and now Celtic. You must have more concentration."

Laszlo insisted that there were no excuses for the defeat and added: "We can talk about Celtic, they have an international player in every position and quality everywhere. This is good but you must look at yourself."

Meanwhile, Hearts have launched a probe into claims that Celtic manager Gordon Strachan was verbally abused after his side's win.

However, it is understood that the Tynecastle club have not received any formal complaints from the Parkhead club or Strachan himself.

The Celtic manager was called an "arsehole" as he walked out of the media room into the main corridor where corporate guests enter and leave the stadium.

A spokesman for the club confirmed: "We will look into the incident and once we identify the individual the appropriate action will be taken.

"The investigation has already started and it seems the person involved may have emerged from one of the corporate lounges."

Taken from the Scotsman