Hearts coached to be more ruthless and resilient with team's first-choice defence identified

The coaching points delivered to Hearts’ first team during the World Cup break make perfect sense. Football isn't rocket science, after all, and the need to improve at both ends of the pitch seems fairly obvious.

Manager Robbie Neilson wants more cohesive and resilient defending inside his team’s penalty box, combined with more aggressive and clinical attacking in opposition territory. Both are central to the club’s aspirations of climbing the cinch Premiership table as domestic matches resume.

Kilmarnock visit Tynecastle Park on Saturday, giving Neilson and his assistants a chance to see the fruits of their endeavours following some intense training-ground work in recent weeks. Neilson explained the focus over the last few weeks to the Evening News.

“There is quite a lot to work on,” he said. “We have a lot of possession in games but we need to be a bit more ruthless when we get into the final third. That means getting deliveries into the box and bodies into the box. That’s something I think we can do better. If you assess this season compared to last season, we have actually scored more goals per game on average but we are conceding quite a few more. Defensively, we have to be more solid. Good teams are based around a strong defence.”

The return of Craig Halkett, Kye Rowles and Stephen Kingsley from injury helps significantly as Hearts look to utilise a three-man defence once again. Rowles recently returned from World Cup duty with Australia but is suspended domestically for this weekend’s match. His absence earlier in the season, plus those of Halkett and Kingsley, meant the club’s first-choice back line was disrupted.

“With the amount of injuries we had and constant alterations to the defensive line every week, it made things difficult,” conceded Neilson. “We had Stephen Kingsley, Craig Halkett and Kye Rowles who were predicted to be our main starters in defence this season. They have actually only played together for 27 minutes so far. Getting a bit more stability into the back line will be a big bonus for us.

“It’s just the basics of football, really. I think we keep possession well, move the ball around fine and get into good areas. It’s just those final moments. Defensively, we have to cut out silly errors and switching off. Offensively, we need to get deliveries and bodies into the penalty box. It’s not massively complicated but it’s stuff we need to try to improve.”

Halkett and Kingsley are expected to play against Kilmarnock, while others including midfielder Peter Haring and the on-loan Wigan Athletic forward Stephen Humphrys are set to miss out. “Rowles is obviously suspended from the red card he got against Livingston. He will be out this week but Halkett and Kingsley are back fit and we would hope to have Kye ready for the following week. We are starting slowly get everyone back.

Hearts coaching staff want the team to improve at both ends of the pitch.

“Liam Boyce and Beni Baningime are both still a bit away. Stephen Humphrys is still probably a week or two away with his ankle problem as we wait for it to settle down. Peter Haring has his concussion issues, so that will just be a matter of him coming back into training once he feels right again. He has tried to come back a few times and got into training but then it has flared up again a bit. We just decided to take our time with that, not rush him, and make sure he is 100 per cent.”

Kilmarnock are unbeaten in two meetings with Hearts this season. They won 1-0 in Gorgie in the Premier Sports Cup – now renamed the Viaplay Cup – back in August before a 2-2 league draw at Rugby Park in October. Manager Derek McInnes might be frustrated seeing his team sitting second bottom of the Premiership ahead of fixtures resuming, but Neilson is convinced they will climb.

“They are a promoted team but they are pretty experienced and have a very experienced manager and assistant,” he said. “When you go through their team, they have plenty top-flight experience. I didn’t expect them to be anywhere near the bottom. I expect them to be challenging for the upper half of the table. They have good physicality in their team, plus boys who can deliver set-plays that always make it difficult.

“That night in the cup was disappointing but we reviewed that game and we had opportunities to win. That’s been the story of a lot of our games this season. We have created chances but, in that final moment at both ends of the pitch, we haven’t been sharp enough. You hope that was a reflection of playing so many games in such a short period of time. Once we get back to these Saturday-to-Saturday matches, the preparation will be a lot sharper.”

Five weeks since their last match, Hearts coaching staff can detect a freshness within the group. The unforgiving run of European and domestic games is finished and the focus now is on moving up the league table. The Edinburgh club are fifth at the moment four points behind third-placed Aberdeen.

“I think the boys are ready to get back at it again. We know what we need to aim for and what we need to do,” said Neilson. “We are starting to get competition within the group. The whole aim before this break was to be within touching distance of that third place. We managed to do that against teams who didn’t have European football and had the opportunity to prepare Saturday-to-Saturday as normal. We were travelling all over Europe and had to come back to play league games. It was always going to be tough to be sitting third. That’s what we hoped for, but staying in touching distance was important and we managed to do that.”