SUITED & BOOTED
Robbie bigs up trip to Accies in bid to end Cup trend of getting..
ROBBIE NEILSON has labelled Friday’s Scottish Cup showdown at Hamilton as the biggest game of the season for his Hearts trophy chasers.
The Jambos boss is determined to get his hands on silverware and knows the famous old competition is the best route to glory for the Gorgie men.
Hearts dumped Hibs in the fourth round to earn a crack at Championship Accies and Neilson is refusing to play down the magnitude of the encounter.
The Tynecastle men moved clear in third in the Premiership on the back of the weekend win against Dundee United.
But Neilson knows the title is still a distant dream – with the Scottish Cup a shot at success right now.
Hearts have reached three of the last four finals but failed to get their hands on the prize.
But Neilson said: “We want to win silverware and the cups are probably our best chance.
“This week’s game is the most important game of the season again. We’ll need to bring our best. We’ve seen already this season the smaller teams can beat the bigger sides.”
The Jambos will need to adjust to the plastic pitch at the ZLX Stadium but there will be no excuses from Neilson and co.
Accies have turned around their form this season after a struggling start and are unbeaten in their last five games – including the stunning penalty shootout win against Ross County in the last round of the Scottish Cup.
Neilson has seen plenty of sides stung the season and said: “The astro at Hamilton is actually quite good. Hopefully we’ll be able to pass the ball on it.
“There are a couple of grounds that are difficult on the astro but that is a good one. We’ll take our full allocation there and hopefully we’ll win the game.”
Neilson was thrilled his side managed to dust themselves down from the Rangers defeat last week to do the business against Dundee United.
The Jambos had to come from behind but managed to overpower the Tannadice side after they went down to 10 men to maintain their seven-point lead in the race to be best of the rest.
Neilson has plenty of options in his squad after shaking things up again on Saturday – with subs Alex Cochrane and Stephen Humphrys making huge impacts from the bench.
Both notched in the 3-1 win, with Humphrys scoring a goal of the season contender from 60 yards to seal the deal.
The Gorgie gaffer also has the likes of Garang Kuol, Jorge Grant and Orestis Kiomourtzoglou banging on the door and Neilson warned his side there are NO automatic picks.
“Nobody is guaranteed a starting position here. You are at a big football club. When you come on in a game, you’ve got to make an impact. When you train every day, you’ve got to make an impact. When you’re playing at a big club there is a big squad and there will be rotation.
“It’s about being here and performing at the best level you can.”
We want to win silverware and the cups are probably our best chance
ROBBIE NEILSON IS CHASING GLORY FOR JAMBOS AT HAMPDEN