“Certain things need to be addressed”: Stephen Kingsley response to Hearts dressing room claim

Stephen Kingsley insists the Hearts players and remaining coaches need to stick together ahead of the derby, but admits that “certain things that need to be addressed”.

The Tynecastle club are looking for a new manager after Robbie Neilson was sacked in the wake of five consecutive defeats which threatens to derail hopes of securing European football again next season.

Saturday’s 2-0 home defeat to St Mirren proved to be the final straw for club chiefs. As Neilson left the field on Saturday he was met with a volley of abuse from the remaining supporters in the main stand with some claiming the players had stopped playing for him. Kingsley knows the players must pull together to get things back on track.

Responding to the accusation that Neilson had lost he dressing room, Kingsley said: “I think now more than ever, the most important thing is staying together. The worst thing you can have is those cliques, groups dividing the dressing room saying, ‘this is wrong’.

Hearts head coach Robbie Neilson and full-back Stephen Kingsley. The latter says the Tynecastle side have to all be pulling in the same direction as pressure intensifies on his boss. Picture: SNS

“There are certain things that need to be addressed 100 per cent, and that will be what we do in the next couple of days and there will be a few tough words for everyone involved but with it’s with the idea in our heads that we’re in this together and only us will get out of of it, no one else is going to help us get out of this rut.

“Whether it’s a staff member or individual players having a go at other players, whatever it is, everyone has to be in it together. It’s a collective and we all need to do it together.”