Changes at Hearts for Dundee United game, plus reasons for subbing Garang Kuol and James Hill against Rangers

Hearts will change their midfield for Saturday’s Premiership meeting with Dundee United as Andy Halliday, Jorge Grant and Orestis Kiomourtzoglou compete for starting places.

Cammy Devlin has a chance of being involved if he can overcome a hamstring problem, but manager Robbie Neilson won’t use the same midfield that started Wednesday’s 3-0 defeat by Rangers. Robert Snodgrass is expected to retain his place, but the experiment involving Garang Kuol and Barrie McKay beside side him did not work.

“It’s a different game. We will probably have more possession on Saturday so we will probably need players who are going to take the ball,” Neilson told the Evening News. “We went into Wednesday with a more attack-minded team to try and get forward, but we never really got forward.

“It only happened once or twice in the first half and that was the disappointment of it. The support up to Lawrence Shankland and Josh Ginnelly didn’t happen and they ended up dropping deep. There are a few reasons for that. We will have a look at it and try to alter it for the weekend.”

Kuol, the Australian teenage striker on loan from Newcastle United, was substituted at half-time after looking out of sorts in midfield. Hearts also withdrew defender James Hill for tactical reasons. The centre-back had also been asked to operate out of position at right wing-back.

“James came off because he had been booked. He was playing right wing-back and you can get isolated out there,” explained Neilson. “All it takes is one incident, a dive or someone to go down, and it’s a red card and he’s off. Then we are in trouble. That was the reason behind that. I actually thought he did well given we were asking him to play in a position he isn’t used to.

“With Garang, it’s a big learning one for him. We know that in possession and driving at people, he’s got unbelievable ability. He saw that with his pass for Barrie McKay [in the first half]. The defensive aspects he needs to work at and he knows that himself.”

Hearts welcome United to Tynecastle Park on Saturday hoping to extend their six-point lead in third place in the Premiership table. Fourth-placed St Mirren enjoyed a 3-1 midweek victory at Aberdeen whilst Hearts struggled against Rangers. Neilson admitted closing the gap to the top two will take time.

Hearts defender James Hill fouls Rangers forward Fashion Sakala at Tynecastle on Wednesday.

“It’s always going to be like that till we can get closer and closer and keep building the squad,” he said. “Financially, we want the squad to get stronger in every position and that's what we need to get to. Wednesday night was a big disappointment. We had been on a great run, doing well and winning games. It showed that, when we are not at our top level, then it’s difficult to compete against these top teams.

“Now it’s on to the next game, like it is in football whether you win or lose. We need to use Wednesday to learn from the mistakes we made, but also get ourselves ready for Dundee United. The Rangers result was a big bump in the road but it’s one we will get over.”