Hearts director of football Craig Levein insists Ian Cathro remains the right man to take the club forward despite a "frustrating and disappointing" season.

The Edinburgh side finished fifth in the Scottish Premiership and Cathro came under fire from Hearts supporters towards the end of the season.

Levein has admitted the club got their recruitment wrong in two successive transfer windows last summer and in January, but the club are working hard to put that right in the coming pre-season.

Levein said: "I would describe the season as frustrating, and a tad disappointing.

"But I think to give some sort of reality to the situation, us finishing fifth isn't something that happens on a regular basis. Was it a disaster? No.

"There's a number of things (that were wrong), but I would point to recruitment. The last two haven't been particularly good. So that's an area we have to do much better and it's something we're looking at very closely.

"In hindsight, should we have given longer term contracts to some players? Probably no. The fact that they have got short-term contracts has put us in a position to be able to strengthen again this summer. But I agree that 'rushed' is probably a fair assessment.

"The way I look at is that it's done, and we just have to make sure everything is correct for going into the new season.

"There's been quite a furore around Ian's appointment and subsequent matches, and people have been very quick to pick holes in his results. In the business we're in, it's going to happen.

"But I have an understanding of the pressures that are on Ian. He has our patience and we believe the experience he's gained will put us in good stead for the new season.

"Looking forward, my interests just now are giving Ian the best chance of having a successful season. We believe he's absolutely right and we'll support him. We're very confident we've got the right guy."