Robbie – We Must Learn To Kill Teams Off

Head coach Robbie Neilson has said that Hearts have to learn to kill teams off following the draw with Kilmarnock at Rugby Park at the weekend.

Speaking to the Official Site following the two all draw that saw Hearts come from behind before taking the lead, only to drop two points inside of the final ten minutes, the gaffer knew that we’d had more than enough chances to have put the game out of sight but those chances were wasted and weren’t even put on target across the 90 minutes.

‘It`s two points dropped. We got into really good position, but then we didn`t kill the game off. The quality wasn`t there up front today, and then we lost a poor goal. We`re usually quite physical from corners. Magennis lost his marker, it was a good delivery and we paid the price. We wanted to come here and win. That`s two draws against Kilmarnock this season and with our quality, we should be winning these games. Our forward players created some good chances today but we just didn`t take the opportunity to kill the game off at 2-1.’

Ending his briefer than usual interview with the press, Neilson went on to praise young striker Gavin Reilly saying he was really beginning to find his feet at the club now as he registered two goals in two games in the encounter.

‘Gavin is starting to show why we brought him here. He plays on the shoulder, and he makes good runs in behind. We know he can finish too. He`s been good recently, and we`re delighted with him, so he deserves his place in the team.’

Reilly himself was interviewed after the game and he felt that he was starting to show the fans what he was capable of now following his summer arrival from Queen of the South.

‘The gaffer keeping me in the side with Juanma back has given me a great confidence boost, if I`m honest. It would have been easy for him to rotate me out of the side. I`d have understood, I`m a team player and this has been my third game in six days which I don`t think I`ve even done in quite a long time.’

Reilly went on to admit that having impressed early doors, he did then struggle with the demands of full time football, so his time out of the squad and spotlight did help him adjust off the pitch so he could have another crack at life on the pitch and so far it’s going well for him.

‘I always felt I was good enough to play at this level, I just had to adapt to the demands of the league and training. I`ve been waiting for a chance patiently. Hopefully that`s me sorted now, and I can bed into the side now that I`ve started to score goals playing up front. I was adapting to a higher level and buzzing about with the excitement, but after the initial buzz, I started to try too hard. It`s all new and exciting to begin with. Then you start to realise the demands of training at a consistently high level and your body takes time to deal with it as you realise how difficult it is. I feel like I`m ready to start making a proper contribution now, and I know I`m good enough to play for Hearts.’

One thing he was confident of was that Hearts were performing above expectations following Championship title promotion last year, as for him you have to aim for the stars in the game and when you settle for something it’s basically a failure.

‘We have to be aiming higher than consolidation. Top six was our initial aim, but we feel we`ve got that nailed from our early season form. We want to get into a European position, maintain that, and then make an attempt for second next, we know we`re more than capable of achieving that.’