Neilson allays derby concerns after Souttar’s early exit

ROBBIE NEILSON expects John Souttar to be fit for the Edinburgh derby on Tuesday after suffering an injury scare in yesterday’s victory against Motherwell at Tynecastle.

And the Hearts boss also revealed he believes the defender, who has signed a pre-contract with Rangers, will remain in Gorgie until the end of the season — despite joking the Ibrox club might want to pay up front to sign him immediately after they conceded three goals at Ross County yesterday.

Souttar (pictured) collided with Motherwell midfielder Callum Slattery in the first half and did not reappear after the break as he was replaced by new signing Toby Sibbick.

‘There’s been nothing new with John,’ said Neilson after his team triumphed 2-0 to strengthen their grip on third position in the Premiership. ‘Although I saw they lost three goals today, so I might get a phone call! But at this moment in time there’s been nothing.

‘It’s fine. He’s left here and he’ll be back in tomorrow. And I expect he’ll be available for Tuesday if he’s still here.

‘He got a knock with that challenge in the first half. He came in at half-time and was sore.

I was planning on giving Sibbick some game time for 20-30 minutes, so he got a wee bit more.

‘Sibbick did well. He looked good. His fitness levels are still to improve, he hasn’t played since the middle of November but he has the physicality we need.’

Neilson, who revealed defender Craig Halkett is expected to be out for four to six weeks with a hamstring injury, called on his players to raise their levels ahead of the clash with Hibs.

‘It was a tough game,’ he added. ‘Motherwell are well organised, they make it difficult to get any flow.

‘I’m delighted with the three points but disappointed with the performance. I thought we’ve played a lot better than that this season. Especially at home, we should be performing better.

‘We didn’t control the game that well. Credit to Motherwell, they make it like that. They get bodies around the ball, they play direct knock-downs. But we need to show a bit more composure.

‘We’re going to Easter Road so we have to win. It doesn’t matter if we’re 12 points ahead or 12 points behind. All our focus now is going there and trying to get three points.’