Hearts of Oak Corporate Affairs Manager Joe Addo admits the side suffered from complacency in their 1-0 defeat to AC Djoliba on Sunday.
The Phobians progressed to the final stage of the CAF Confederation Cup qualifiers on the away goal’s rule with the tie ending on a 2-2 aggregate scoreline.
Hearts had secured an impressive 2-1 win over the Malian side in the away leg of the tie.
They were thus largely expected to finish off their opponents in grand style playing before their home fans but this didn’t happen.
Many have attributed the team’s loss on the four key players missing in the Hearts team.
Robin Gnagne, Joseph Owusu Bempah, Isaac Oduro and Mutawakilu Seidu were unavailable for selection into Herbert Addo’s side for varied reasons.
But the club’s Corporate Affairs manager Joe Addo believes the side lacked the required motivation to earn a win.
"It was a difficult match against a good opponent," the former Black Stars defender told Happy FM.
"The boys needed self-motivation and I think we lacked it. When you go abroad and win, sometimes it is difficult motivating yourself for the second leg because you feel it is a done deal, but you have to psyche yourself and make up your mind that the result is zero-all.
"If you approach the game with that mind and things don't go as planned, then you device a strategy to settle for a good result.
“That is self-motivation; but I don't think yesterday the boys had that self-motivation, they think it was a done deal.
"As hard as they tried, things didn't go as planned. It was very, very unfortunate... I think the absence of the quartet was part of the reason for the performance.
"Because if you play with all your key players available and you win, and in the second leg, four of your major players are missing, sometimes it is difficult to play the same style and with the same rhythm, but it is not an excuse."