'A few lined up' - Hearts boss Robbie Neilson provides signing update and reveals difficult situation

Players have been pinpointed to add pace in the wide areas at Tynecastle
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Hearts boss Robbie Neilson has revealed he has a few players lined up to bolster the squad in the wide areas.

The new Tynecastle manager has made signing players with pace a priority when it comes to recruitment this summer.

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Happy with the nucleus of the squad, Neilson, who will hold talks with Lee McCulloch over a possible coaching position, believes speed is the one quality lacking in his team, something which he is planning to rectify in the coming weeks.

Robbie Neilson has made wide players a priority in the transfer market. Picture: SNSRobbie Neilson has made wide players a priority in the transfer market. Picture: SNS
Robbie Neilson has made wide players a priority in the transfer market. Picture: SNS

Hearts had been linked with a move for both winger Drey Wright and striker Kevin Nisbet, who signed for Hibs on Friday. Something which Neilson played down

"Although we have some really good players and a good nucleus we don’t have a huge amount of pace in the wide areas to break teams down,” he told the BBC.

"I think, no matter what league you are in, you certainly need that especially when you are at Hearts and a lot of teams will sit in against you.

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“The priority is that. I think we will get there. We have a few lined up, hopefully we can get them over the line when we are able to sign players.”

He added: “When I was at Dundee United we made an offer for Kevin in January. From a Hearts perspective we never made any offers for either player.

"There was no contact between ourselves and Dunfermline at all. It wasn’t one we were pushing.”

‘Starting miles behind’

Neilson, who returned last month from Dundee United, is currently in a tricky situation. The players are furloughed but there is still the possibility that Hearts could be reinstated in the Premiership at the expense of the Tangerines with the independent tribunal against the SPFL to start this week.

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With the Championship not beginning until October, the team are unable to train. If they were to find themselves back in the top-flight it would require a quick turnaround with the season kicking off in just 19 days, leaving the players “miles behind”.

“The boys are on furlough so it is very difficult,” Neilson said.

“We are not allowed to train. We cannot send anything out at all which is to do with work. That’s the difficulty of it.

"I speak to the players a couple of times a week, just more for their well-being, having a chat and seeing how they are doing. The coaches have split them into groups to chat and blether away.

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“From an actual physical or tactical point we can't do anything at all which is the difficulty if things change and we have to come back earlier so it's been difficult.

"We’re ready if things change in the next week or two to bring them but we’ll be starting miles behind and at a huge disadvantage to everyone else.”