Robbie Neilson has delivered an injury update on Alex Cochrane as he opened up on debutants James Hill and Garang Kuol.
Hearts defeated St Mirren under the lights in the capital to increase the gap over the chasing pack in third spot to six points. Barrie McKay was the matchwinner with a strike just before the half hour mark for the home side. The Jambos boss was 'delighted' to keep the points in Gorgie as he delivered his verdict on his new recruits, who got a first taste of the famous Tynecastle atmosphere.
Speaking to Hearts' official website, he said: “I’m delighted to get the three points. It is always a tough game against St Mirren. They make it very difficult to get control of the game. They are very well organised, defensively strong and have great physicality at set plays.
READ MORE: Hearts new boy James Hill reveals secret weapon as he details key attributes after loan transfer
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“The first goal is always important in these games, and we managed to get it. I thought we had a few nice pieces of play in that first half when maybe the final moment just wasn’t there, but with Barrie’s, it was just a sensational finish.
“I thought he [Hill] was outstanding. For someone who has only had two training sessions, to come in and play against a very good team and look comfortable on the ball, but also very aggressive and organising the rest of the players, I was very pleased with that.
“Garang is obviously just a young kid. We thought giving him 15-20 minutes and try to just build him up a bit, but you can see his speed of movement and his decision making is top level.”
On Cochrane, he added: “Alex just had a tight hamstring. It was a wee bit tight at half-time but in the end, it was more of a precaution to take him off ahead of Wednesday.”
READ NEXT:
- We 'signed' Garang Kuol for Hearts in January and Robbie Neilson's side reached Scottish Cup Final
- Hearts new boy James Hill reveals secret weapon as he details key attributes after loan transfer
