Hearts boss Robbie Neilson unhappy at his yellow card but has no complaints about Rangers scoreline

Hearts manager Robbie Neilson admitted his team ‘fell apart’ in their 5-0 defeat against Rangers at Ibrox but insists they can’t allow it to derail their charge for a third-place Premiership finish.

Hearts manager Robbie Neilson was booked for dissent by referee Willie Collum during his team's 5-0 defeat against Rangers at Ibrox. (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group)

On a dismal afternoon for Neilson, who was booked for dissent by referee Willie Collum, Hearts missed glaring chances at just 1-0 down before being overwhelmed by a flurry of Rangers goals in the closing third of the contest.

"We started the second half really well, the crowd starts to turn and we had two huge opportunities to equalise,” said Neilson.

“We didn't score them and as soon as they got the second goal, we kind of started to fall apart a wee bit. There was a 12 minute period when we lost three goals and that was the game dead.

"The team has done very well this season. We are sitting 10 points clear in third place and this was a real bump in the road.

"We felt it was an opportunity to come here and do well and it has not worked out that way.

"You can talk the talk and say we are going to do this and that but at the end of the day we can now only win on Wednesday against Dundee.”

Neilson would not divulge the nature of his complaint which earned a caution but was clearly unhappy at the rigid officiousness of Collum.

"The remit now has changed, they just book you for anything,” he said. "I think they just want you to stand there and be a robot. I was just complaining about… no, I am not going into it, it's done."

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