Robbie Neilson responds to Hearts fan fury and gives injury update on Josh Ginnelly

Robbie Neilson accepts the fury from the Hearts support after the Tynecastle side lost their fifth game in succession and their hold on third place after the 2-0 loss to St Mirren.

The home side fell apart in ten second-half minutes with Curtis Main and Alex Gogic getting on the scoresheet before Robert Snodgrass was sent off for a second booking.

The result sees Aberdeen move above Hearts in the table with a two-point gap after defeating Kilmarnock at Pittodrie, while St Mirren are now only a point behind in fifth.

It was the sixth loss in seven games for Hearts and the supporters made their feelings clear at full-time, jeering the players and calling for the manager to go as he left the field of play.

The head coach understands where the anger is coming from as he continues to back himself to turn the club’s form – and season – around.

“You just need to keep winning,” he said. “Look, the fans have been outstanding my whole career here over a number of years. They put in more money than anyone else through season tickets, daily tickets and the Foundation and they want to see us winning and we’re not doing that.

"It's part of football. I've been a manager for 350 to 400 games, I know that when you get poor results there's going to be negativity. That's part of the game. If you don't accept that then you shouldn't be in the game.

“There’s a frustration there from everyone, from the fanbase, from the coaching staff and the players. And you have to accept when you’re at a big club when you don’t perform and get results you’re going to get flak. The only way to change that is to win games.”

Robbie Neilson bellows instructions from the sidelines as Hearts lose to St Mirren at Tynecastle Park. Picture: SNS

It was deja vu for Hearts from recent performances as they were sluggish in possession and allowed the opposition to take advantage of mistakes.

"It’s been the story of the last six weeks or whatever it is, at key moments we are not taking the chances that come our way and we’re not defending the way we should,” said Neilson.

"I felt today we’re playing against St Mirren who are organised, and it’s about first and second contacts and long balls and set plays. And to be honest for the majority of the game we did it, and we had that period where we didn’t, and they scored two goals and it got away from us.

“That was the biggest disappointment for us. We’re in a difficult period and we’re shooting ourselves in the foot at times.”

Hearts were without goalkeeper Zander Clark and forward Josh Ginnelly for this contest. Neilson expects them to both be back for the Edinburgh derby as he explained Ginnelly’s ailment.

“He's got a bone bruise on his foot,” he said. “To be honest, he's been carrying it for a few weeks now. He got another knock last week and we hoped we could manage him through it, but it just wasn't ready in time. We hope that with missing this game then he'll be ready for next week.”

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