Hearts can't go to Celtic and bang it, Stephen Humphrys injury news, manager defends Barrie McKay

Robbie Neilson challenged Hearts to beat Celtic twice this week and also defended forward Barrie McKay following the 3-0 win against St Johnstone.
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Josh Ginnelly scored twice to take his total to five goals in six games against Saints, with Jorge Grant the other scorer. Hearts now travel to Celtic Park in the Premiership on Wednesday before hosing the same opposition in a Scottish Cup quarter-final next Saturday.

Neilson explained that there must be a clear strategy and gameplan against the league champions. “It’s like anything at Hearts, we just need to keep winning games,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what we did last week we need to win. We go to Parkhead on Wednesday and we’ll be expected to win the game. Then the cup game after it we will be expected to win. It’s just about trying to win every week. That’s the standard we set.

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“We need to go there [on Wednesday] and try and win the game. We have a way of playing and we want to take that to Celtic, challenge ourselves against one of the top teams in the country. They are outstanding at the moment, have a great squad and good manager. It’s a hard place to go. If we go there and just bang it [long], we will get beat so we need to go and play the way we want to.”

Ginnelly missed Hearts’ previous 2-0 loss at Motherwell through suspension but returned with venom against Saints. “We miss his pace, his energy,” admitted Neilson. “I think that understanding he has with Lawrence Shankland as well. It allows Shankland to drop in because Ginnelly will threaten in behind, the two of them worked really well together.”

Hearts forward Barrie McKay helped answer some critics with a good display including two assists. Neilson mounted a strong defence of one of his most creative men. “Barrie's a top player. He's probably technically the best player we've got or one of the best players,” said the manager.

“You see in games teams will put two players on him or three players and it can be difficult at times. I've said it a million times, we had so many injuries at the start of the season that we were asking our creative players to play Sunday-Thursday-Sunday-Thursday-Sunday-Thursday. They lose that spark. I think you are starting to see the best of Barrie now.”

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Hearts striker Stephen Humphrys missed the win over St Johnstone with a knee problem and is unlikely to feature on Wednesday at Celtic Park. Alex Cochrane was withdrawn with a hip problem in the second half. “It was just a tight hip at half-time and, with a number of games coming up, we felt it was an opportunity to get him off,” said Neilson.

Hearts players celebrate after Josh Ginnelly scored against St Johnstone.Hearts players celebrate after Josh Ginnelly scored against St Johnstone.
Hearts players celebrate after Josh Ginnelly scored against St Johnstone.

Callum Davidson, the St Johnstone manager, admitted he was tired seeing Ginnelly score against his side. “I am sick of the sight of him, yes. It’s funny how some players enjoy playing against people and he’s scored against us again. Zander Clark also had a very good game, he’s playing well here. We are pleased to see him doing well but not when it’s against us.”