'Earlier the better': Robbie Neilson responds to Ron Gordon over Hibs-Hearts comments

Robbie Neilson takes his Hearts team to Easter Road on Sunday for the derby.

Robbie Neilson believes having an Edinburgh derby so early in the season is to be relished as Hearts bid to continue setting the tone for the campaign ahead.

The Tynecastle manager was responding to comments from Hibs owner Ron Gordon, who has underlined his dissatisfaction with the authorities for allowing the fixture to be scheduled for round two of the league programme.

Gordon complained that the timing effectively devalued the clash and made “zero” business sense.

It is Hibs’ first home league game of the season and Gordon argued that there would have been a big crowd regardless of who they were playing.

Ron Gordon was unhappy with the scheduling of the derby.

Neilson, however, is savouring the prospect. “The sooner the better,” he said. The Hearts manager is looking to build on an opening day win against Ross County while securing a significant boost before upcoming European commitments.

“I think it’s great, to be honest,” said Neilson. “You want to get a derby, to win this, to get some momentum. If we win this on Sunday, it sets us up well for the coming games as well, so the sooner the better I think.”

“I quite like them coming early in the season. In my experience they usually come early,” he added. “It gives you a target in pre-season, you build up to it as it is early in the campaign.

“It gets it over with, you want to build momentum, there’s nothing better than winning it. You want to get your first win of the season, and we have both done that. If you win the derby it gives you that push.”