Robbie Neilson insists John Souttar can handle the heat from unhappy Hearts fans but he hopes the Jambos support can bury the hatchet for the rest of the season.
The Rangers bound defender saw his every touch booed by a section of the home support in the 2-0 win against St Johnstone.
Neilson said: “John is a mentally strong character. He’s came back from three career threatening injuries. I only know a few people who have come back from a single Achilles rupture never mind three.
“You know he’s very strong mentally, he can blank out the background noise and get on with the game.
“I thought he played very well.
“There is always going to be that. Whenever John goes, if it’s the end of the season, there is always going to be that in the background.
“You pay your money, you come and to an extent you can say what you want. To an extent.
“John understands the situation. We understand it. But I keep coming back to it being about the football club moving forward.
“At this moment in time what’s best is that we put our best players on the pitch to win games and take us forward.
“I've said all along the club is bigger than any individual player, coach or manager. The focus has to be on progressing the club forward, getting the three points, European qualification, winning cups.
“That has to be the end goal for us all.”
Neilson was thrilled with Hearts ' display as Josh Ginnelly’s double sent Hearts eight point clear in third sport.
He said: “I was delighted. You are always unsure where you’ll be after three weeks off and whether it will be a slow start.
“The pressure was on as we were expected to win so I was pleased we managed to do that.
“There are still areas to work on but once we got the goal we were quite comfortable.
“We are eight clear in third place. We are nine behind Celtic. We’ve got them here in the next league game and a chance to get a wee bit closer again.
“If we can up the way to these top teams then we don’t need to worry about what’s behind us.”
