Head coach Robbie Neilson has praised the side’s mental strength as they turned the game around against Dundee at Dens Park this weekend.
Vital Report – Dundee 1-2 Hearts
Stats: Dundee v Hearts
Having conceded the opening goal on the day after only five minutes, Hearts battled back admirably in the second half and a brace from Delgado Lloria got us back on level terms and then gave us all three points.
Speaking to the Official Site following the game, the gaffer explained that whilst we certainly weathered the storm thanks to Neil Alexander in particular, the second half showing and the determination from the boys really pleased him.
With that said he admitted the half time talk wasn’t pretty.
‘We spoke as a group at half-time. It`s an open dressing room, anyone is free to speak as they wish, and we agreed as a team that it wasn`t an acceptable performance, they weren`t at it. It`s over ten years since we`d last won here, so we knew how tough it would be. It took until half-time for us to find our feet, change the shape and tell the players what was expected of them.’
The half time talk worked though and Neilson went on to say that football is always about the small margins and he knows at half time, had they taken their chances, it would’ve been game over for us – but they didn’t and our improvement saw us do to them what they had been doing to us.
‘If Dundee take their other chances, they`re out of sight, but they didn`t, and we stayed in the game long enough to grab hold of it and not let go. We competed better in the second half and dominated.’
With Juwon Oshaniwa going off in the second half, Neilson allayed fears of injury by explaining that it was simply tactical owing to the fact he was cramping up with is current lack of match fitness, but a few more sessions and run outs will see him fine in the future.
There was also obviously praise for our double goalscorer.
‘Juwon has only trained for a few days, and he`s not played since May so he was cramping up a bit, nothing more. I thought he did really well in the circumstances. He`s tenacious and aggressive, and he`s a winner, he`s the kind of player we want here. Juanma`s done what we expected him to do so far. We knew he was strong, physical and quick, with technique in abundance and the ability to finish. If he can stay fit for us, he`ll be hugely important in us having a successful season.’
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