Robbie Neilson is convinced his attackers will be ready to get Hearts ahead in the race for third after finally getting the chance to put their feet up during the World Cup break.
The Jambos were left running on empty by a hectic schedule before the break because of their qualification for the Europa Conference League group stage. The Tyncastle outfit played an energy-sapping 24 games in 15 weeks, including 10 ‘midweek’ matches, that put a drain on their resources following a string of injuries.
Neilson reckons his forward-thinking players in particular needed the lay-off to rediscover their sharpness. And, after Saturday’s 3-1 victory over Kilmarnock hauled them to within touching distance of Aberdeen just a point above in third place, Neilson believes the Gorgie attack is ready to spark. The signs were there at the weekend after Lawrence Shankland bagged a brace to go joint-top of the Premiership scoring charts following Josh Ginnelly’s first half opener.
He said: “It was relentless and with the amount of injuries we had to ask guys to keep going. These guys that play in these (attacking) positions, they need a rest and need to come off just to keep that freshness.
“Getting that break and then Saturday-Saturday games, I think we’ll start to see the real quality we’ve got in those forward areas.”
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