Robbie Neilson hits back at 'external' talk as race for third heats up after Hearts' defeat to Motherwell

Hearts defeat to Motherwell was being described as a wake-up call but manager Robbie Neilson hit back stating that no-one at the club had prematurely handed themselves a third place finish in this season’s Premiership.

Hearts manager Robbie Neilson looks dejected after the 2-0 defeat at Motherwell. (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group)

Agreeing that the Fir Park performance had not been good enough from far too many of his players, he said it only validated their belief that there is still plenty of work to be done between now and the end of the season if they are to see it out tucked in beyond Celtic and Rangers.

“All that was external. It’s a good storyline for everyone,” Neilson stressed. “But we are only five points clear. I think the most we’ve been is eight so it’s never done and dusted till it’s over. We need to focus and let others talk.

“I thought we were very poor; the worst we’ve been for a long time. That’s the frustrating thing. We’ve been in decent form then to perform like that, we were nowhere near our levels. Sometimes you come here at six or seven [players underperforming] and you get results but we were a lot lower than that. We had the majority, probably everyone apart from Zander [Clark] not at that level. It’s disappointing because we set standards and we were way below it.”

The Gorgie goalkeeper was actually in decent form, covering for the men in front of him, who were all poor against a side with reignited belief following the preparation work carried out by interim boss Stuart Kettlewell and on the back of their midweek win over St Mirren.

Despite Hearts hitting the post and the bar, they were undone by a goal conceded in the 40th minute, when old foe Jon Obika deflected in the opener, and that was followed by another just after the interval.

“Games are won and lost in moments. We lost a poor first goal. It was second phase, and one defender didn't come out and that made it difficult. Then to lose another goal at the start of the second half, another second phase ball comes in and we don’t react when it comes off post.

“The goals come down to concentration but that isn’t the big issue. The issue is we were miles off it and we need to rectify that.”