Stephen Kingsley insists Hearts can't blame their hectic schedule for Scottish Premiership slip-ups.
The Jambos slipped to a disappointing defeat away at Livingston on Saturday as Robbie Neilson was forced to mix-up his starting XI amid a flurry of untimely injuries. The Jambos looked jaded as Cristian Montano's goal condemned them to a second league loss of the season.
Neilson's side are now preparing for a Europa Conference League opener against Turkish high-flyers Istanbul Basaksehir on Thursday and Kingsley insists, regardless of injuries, the players have no excuses for not doing the basics. He told the Edinburgh Evening News : "That is the challenge. We knew that coming into the season. We’ve got so many games that the squad was always going to be rotated. Players will come in and come out. We need to be ready when we do come in and the game kicks off.
“We need to do the basics well and I feel that’s something we have not done well enough in the last two games. We got into Europe in the first place by doing the basics well in the league games, so we need to get back to that.”
While Kingsley concedes Hearts simply must be better all round, the defender expects they will be given a jolt by a sell-out Tynecastle crowd. He added: “It is a massive game. We need to be up for it and at it. Hopefully the Tynecastle crowd will help us along the way. Of course it was raw after losing to Livingston but, regardless of the last two games, it is a massive occasion and one we will look forward to.”
