Robbie Neilson has named the one area of Hearts' play he wants to see an improvement.
The Jambos recovered from the midweek defeat under the lights at Tynecastle to Rangers to immediately bounce back and pick up a big three points against Dundee United. Things didn't start to plan in Gorgie with Steven Fletcher firing the visitors into the lead. Lawrence Shankland, Alex Cochrane and Stephen Humphrys' simply stunning third completed a comeback win but the capital boss wants his side to get back to starting games on the front foot and being positive.
Delivering an honest assessment from the weekend, he told Edinburgh Evening News: “We didn’t start the game well, lost an early goal and were always fighting back from that. We had opportunities to play forward and play aggressively and didn’t use them, so that’s something we need to get better at. When we play forward we can hurt teams but when we play back then the opposition can press us and it makes it difficult.
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“We really need to get back to starting games on the front foot and being positive. Yes, the resilience is great. I think the patience has got to be there as well. We changed our shape into a four-man midfield to stretch Dundee United. When you play against ten men, it’s difficult because they camp in and make it difficult. You just need to wait, keep moving the ball, wait for spaces to open up and then take your chance. We managed to do that.”
United were reduced to ten men when Ryan Edwards was sent packing for a challenge on Andy Halliday. Neilson introduced the likes of Jorge Grant, Garang Kuol and goalscorer Cochrane as the game went on and they all played a part in the comeback win.
The impact they had on the game pleased Neilson as focus now turns towards Hamilton Accies on Friday night in the Scottish Cup. Hearts make the trip to the Scottish Championship strugglers with a place in the quarter-finals the big prize on offer.
He added: “They all came on and gave us something in terms of an attacking threat. We changed things a bit and moved Josh Ginnelly to right-back because we were getting opportunities for overlaps.
"Cochrane came on and got a goal. Jorge came on and gave us forward passes. I was pleased with the guys who came on.”
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