Having the fans back is driving Robbie’s men on
Robbie Neilson believes Hearts fans helped beat Celtic in the Premiership, Now he’s hoping the Hoops supporters can fire up Andy Halliday and Co in the Premier Sports Cup.
Halliday, who spent five years with Hoops’ rivals Rangers, has had an excellent start to the new campaign.
He scored a fine goal in their win against St Mirren last weekend, having earlier netted an eye-catching longrange effort against Cove Rangers in the Premier group stages.
That has delighted his manager, who argues the easing of Covid restrictions are at least partly responsible for the midfielder’s form.
“When Andy came in, he hadn’t done a preseason, and it was October by the time he arrived at the club. So he wasn’t quite up to speed,” said Neilson.
“And I also think he was one of the guys who was hindered a wee bit by there not being any fans.
“He’s a guy who likes to feed off supporters. There’s a number of guys like that – and you get some who don’t like it, so it works both ways!
“But I think Andy is definitely one who feeds off it. Having something to prove is huge for him.
“I’m sure he will be ready for the game.
“You saw against St Mirren he can get in the box and score goals. We will be looking for more of that.”
The fact Hearts will not have any of their own fans at today’s tie does nothing to diminish Neilson’s enthusiasm for the reopening of turnstiles.
“It’s night and day. It’s the reason we play football,” the boss said.
“It’s more difficult to communicate with the players. But I think they have more energy, and there are less lulls in the game.
“When there were no fans, you would have sporadic points where something happened. Then the game kickedoff for 5-10 minutes, and then it would die a death again. But now they are bigger again.
“You saw that against Celtic. I said after the game, if that had been last season, it would probably have finished 1-1.
“Both teams would have petered out towards the end of the game.
“But when you get the fans on your side, and you get that feeling coming from the stands, it definitely pushes the players on.”
Regardless of the result, the Edinburgh club will look to strengthen before the close of the transfer window.
“We’re just looking for a bit more depth to the squad, to be honest, because we are a wee bit thin at the moment,” said Neilson.
“A lot of players left last year, a lot left this summer as well. So we need a little more depth.”