Robbie Neilson has hailed his Hearts stars as 'absolutely outstanding' in their narrow defeat to FC Zurich as he delivered an injury update on Craig Halkett.
The Jambos' key defender was forced off after just seven minutes in their Europa League play-off clash in Switzerland. It was a major blow early on for the capital club and the travelling support. Lawrence Shankland netted a stunning penalty to send the away section wild and give the Tynecastle men the advantage but the Swiss champions turned the game on its head inside a couple of first-half minutes to gain control of the tie. Scotland No1 and Hearts skipper Craig Gordon stood no chance with either goal as he made a number of key saves including a massive stop in the final minute.
With the tie finely poised at 2-1 going into next week's return at Tynecastle, the Hearts fans will be dreaming of the Europa League group stage with Zurich set for a wall of noise in Gorgie. The atmosphere will be electric and Neilson is delighted they've given themselves a real chance after the away tie. He said: “I was delighted with the performance of the players, I thought they were absolutely outstanding tonight.
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READ MORE: Hearts player ratings vs FC Zurich as Swiss champions take slender lead into Tynecastle Euro return
“We’ve come here against the Swiss champions, top team, international players, and we’ve performed very well.
“We got the goal, we were playing exceptionally well and then lost two sloppy goals in quick succession but we then steadied the ship and got through the game.
“The tie now goes back to Tynecastle and the main objective coming here is that when we go back to Tynecastle to make sure we give ourselves a chance and we’ve done that.”
Halkett was forced off early with a hamstring and left the ground on crutches, but the Jambos gaffer does not yet know the extend of the injury.
He added: “He got a tweak on his hamstring when he stretched for the ball.
“We’ll fly back tomorrow and get it assessed then and see where we are. It could be five days, it could be five weeks. He’s walking.”
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