BLIND DATE
Robbie’s racking brain over rescheduling but says Jambos’ pulling power remains intact amid Atkinson move
ROBBIE NEILSON would have loved a full-house Boxing Day crowd roaring on his Jambos against Ross County at Tynecastle.
Instead, only 500 fans will be inside the Gorgie ground and the Hearts manager adopted a pragmatic approach to the ever-changing Coviddominated landscape.
Neilson insisted his job was to have his third-placed squad ready to face the Staggies whatever the circumstances and he wasn’t wasting time worrying about it.
He said: “I found out Tuesday afternoon about the First Minister’s comments and the restriction on the fans.
“We are just preparing for the game on Sunday. We will crack on.”
Neilson has seen another game against St Johnstone scheduled for next midweek, followed by a derby across the city on January 3, rearranged for January 18 and
February 1 respectively, hopefully in front of full houses. He understands the scheduling problems that shutting down early may bring further down the line. He added: “For me it’s very important to have fans there. “We had a period of 18 months and we all accept it was very difficult to get through the games. “The preference for the club was to bring that winter break forward as much as we can to ensure that, when the games do get played, we get as many fans there as possible. The biggest problem we have is the rescheduling of games.
“You have Scottish Cup games coming up, World Cup play-offs and other internationals. It’s difficult to get a date for them.
“That’s not my department. My remit is to get the boys ready for games and right now we are getting ready for Ross County on Sunday.
“As for the derby, you would play that game every week if you could. It’s a massive game for us.
“Yes, you would like a full house there to bring that atmosphere and intensity.
“It will get rescheduled and we’ll be ready for that one.”
A loss of revenue will have an impact on finances.
But with Neilson looking to bring in a couple of players, including Australian right-back Nathaniel Atkinson, he insisted that his transfer budget would not be impacted by any cash shortfall.
The boss is concerned by any long-term lockout scenario but he said: “That has not been
intimated to me at all. We know what we need to get in and we’re moving forward with a couple of targets.
“At this moment in time no, but you have to look at the bigger picture and see how long this is going to last for.”
Neilson believes his his move for Melbourne City defender Atkinson proves Hearts are still a big draw for players.
He said: “We know the areas we need to strengthen. He is one that has been put to us.
“It’s still a deal that is still to be done so I don’t want to talk too much about it but it’s an area we’d like to strengthen.”
For Sunday’s game, Neilson is hoping to have more players available than he had for the weekend win at Dens Park.
He said: “Michael Smith is back and Liam Boyce will train on Friday, while Josh Ginnelly is back from suspension.
“Stephen Kingsley got scanned and we’re still waiting on the results of that but it does not look as bad as we expected. I don’t think he’ll make the weekend though.”