Robbie Neilson reveals his Hearts demands and injury doubts for the Scottish Cup quarter-final against Celtic

Robbie Neilson will demand an aggressive and passionate Hearts display in Saturday’s Scottish Cup quarter-final against Celtic, but he also wants players to pass and create like they did in midweek.
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The Tynecastle manager was pleased with many aspects of his team’s performance despite Wednesday’s 3-1 defeat at Celtic Park. He acclaimed their bravery and passing ability, stating that it has been some time since any Scottish team caused Celtic problems on their own ground.

As the teams prepare to meet again for a cup semi-final spot, Neilson is urging Hearts to go for the jugular in an effort to spring an upset. “It is the biggest game of the season for us. After the scare Celtic got in midweek, I think they will be up for it massively. We need to make sure we are up for it as well. We need to make contact, be aggressive and get on the front foot. Then we need to pass the ball like we did on Wednesday.

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“It was disappointing not to win but for long periods we contained Celtic and passed the ball really well. We got out of our defence and built the play really well. They kind of struggled to deal with us. There aren’t many teams who will do that at Celtic Park.

“We worked really hard and I’m pleased that we showed the composure to play with the ball. I think we need to take confidence from that. There are areas we need to do better at but, as players and staff watching it, we all agreed that we caused Celtic real problems at times on Wednesday. It’s been a long time since a Scottish team has gone to Parkhead and put in a performance like that.

“You had the whole place turning on them, booing when they passed the ball backwards. That’s what you need to do when you go to Glasgow. To a man, I thought our lads were outstanding. We just didn’t have enough in the end.”

Josh Ginnelly’s early header was overturned by goals from Celtic’s Daizen Maeda, Kyogo Furuhashi and Sead Haksabanovic. Neilson hopes home advantage will work in Hearts’ favour at Tynecastle. “We will have 17,000 home fans inside the ground to cheer us on and provide that bit of extra energy. That’s what we need,” he said.

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“We need the place to be sold out. We need the players to bring their energy, we need the fans to bring their energy, and we need to be at it right the way through. The key thing when you play the Old Firm is that you need to get close to them, you need to make contact and you need to make it difficult for them. I thought we did that at Celtic Park.”

Hearts manager Robbie Neilson wants his team to be aggressive against Celtic.Hearts manager Robbie Neilson wants his team to be aggressive against Celtic.
Hearts manager Robbie Neilson wants his team to be aggressive against Celtic.

Neilson expects most of Hearts’ injuries to clear before the weekend, although Stephen Humphrys and Yutaro Oda remain doubtful with knee and foot problems respectively. “The only one we are potentially going to miss is Oda. He has got a knock on his foot and will have a scan. The rest of them should be fine. Lawrence Shankland should be fine, Josh Ginnelly should be fine, Robert Snodgrass should be fine, Michael Smith should be fine.

“Humps maybe not. I’m not sure yet. He didn’t train before Wednesday’s game so we will need to see how he is. Other than that we should be pretty full.”