Robbie Neilson anticipates Hearts duo Stephen Humphrys and Robert Snodgrass being key players for the Jambos.
Despite a 4-0 trouncing from Rangers in their latest Premiership outing, the Hearts boss was left impressed by what two of his summer signings put into the match. Humphrys turned in a tireless shift against the Light Blues backline while Snodgrass got 45 minutes and calmed down play following Cammy Devlin's red card at the end of the first half.
Confidence won't be an issue ahead of Thursday's huge Europa Conference League match against Serie A side Fiorentina and the Jambos manager insists that the duo can be key players going forward, with all attentions now turned to the continent. Neilson said: "Stephen is a good player. 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.
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"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.
"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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