Hearts duo Stephen Humphrys and Robert Snodgrass impressed Robbie Neilson despite the heavy 4-0 defeat to Rangers.
The Jambos found themselves 1-0 down after just 5 minutes of the lunchtime kick-off at Tynecastle and things only got worse from there. Antonio Colak added to his opener on the half-hour mark before Cammy Devlin was shown a straight red card for a needless challenge on Rabbi Matondo right in front of the Rangers bench.
The realistically ended any hope the hosts had of somehow salvaging something from the game. Alfredo Morelos came off the bench to net his now customary goal against Hearts while Ryan Kent added extra gloss to the scoreline in stoppage time when he found the far corner. Until the red card, Neilson felt his side were still in the game with Humphrys a major factor in that, causing problems down the right for Rangers when Hearts were on the front foot.
The experienced Snodgrass was introduced at half-time for his first home appearance in maroon. Neilson was pleased with the impact he made as well and is adamant the Scotland international will prove a valuable addition over the coming months.
"Stephen is a good player,” he said.” He’s got pace, power, physicality and can play in a number of positions. He showed what he can do. Snoddy is still getting his fitness levels but you can see the quality he brings. He’s out there talking and organising.
"That’s why I brought him on. We had to work differently. He’ll be a really good player for us and that 45 will have helped him.”
Attention now returns to the Europa Conference League and a glamour group stage clash against Fiorentina. La Viola head to the capital on Thursday and Hearts know that a victory would boos their chances of making it out of the group.
The Serie A side are bottom of the table after a draw with RFS and defeat to Istanbul Basasksehir. Hearts are second after defeat to the Turks and victory in Latvia and their double header against Fiorentina will go a long way to determining their fate.
Neilson confirmed there will be no day off today for his charges as he sets about reading them for another big night under the lights in Gorgie. He added: "They’ll be in on Sunday to prepare for Thursday. It’s a massive game (against Fiorentina). We have to make sure we keep 11 players on the pitch.
"When you’re playing against top teams, if you do that you’re in trouble. Although we were 2-0 down, I actually thought we were playing quite well. We were in the game and creating chances. The red card changed it totally."
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