Neilson to give his fringe men chance

HEARTS manager Robbie Neilson will give his fringe players the chance to impress when the Gorgie side face St Johnstone in a bounce game today.

The behind-doors game was arranged in the absence of Premiership fixtures this weekend due to the international break.

Neilson is likely to give a run out to some of the players who have struggled to make an impact in the first team, with the Hearts boss having been reluctant to tinker too much with a team that currently sits third in the table.

Aaron McEneff, who came off the bench to score in Saturday’s 5-2 victory over Dundee United, Peter Haring, Jamie Walker, Andy Halliday and Armand Gnaduillet are among those expected to feature against Saints.

Hearts return to league duty against Motherwell on November 20. Neilson said: “We’ve got a bounce game on Thursday and then we’ll have another pop at it next week.”

McEneff, meanwhile, insists he has just kept his head down behind the scenes despite the frustration of having to wait eleven weeks between competitive appearances.

Prior to the weekend, the Irishman’s last outing came as a substitute in the August 22 home draw with Aberdeen.

During that period, McEneff was an unused sub on four occasions, and did not even make the bench in five games.

But the 26-year-old, who is hoping his goal scoring appearance against United can boost his chances of more game time, insists he was never going sulk. He said: “As you can imagine, if you are out of the mixer it’s tough.

“You have to maintain that belief in yourself. If you don’t, you are really up against it. I’ve always had that belief from a young age.

“It’s just in my character. I’m never going to throw the towel in. You get your chance eventually and it’s up to you to take it.

“It’s only one goal but hopefully I’ll be involved a lot more and get more goals.”