Robbie Neilson has say on crazy Hearts second half and losing a player to Covid-19

Hearts boss Robbie Neilson gives instructions during the 5-3 win over Ayr.

The Jambos went on to win the Championship match 5-3, but suffered a moment of concern when Mark Kerr’s visitors recovered from falling behind to Stephen Kingsley’s 11th-minute opener to go ahead thanks to second-half goals from Cammy Smith and Luke McCowan.

However, Hearts showed their class and character by netting four strikes in a 21-minute window to seal victory as Craig Wighto (2), Olly Lee and Liam Boyce got in on the act, meaning Tom Walsh’s stoppage-time effort for Ayr was merely a consolation.

"We scored the goal early and were comfortable,” said Neilson. “We huffed and puffed a bit and had a few shots and one good play, but never got that second goal. When you don’t get that second goal you always leave yourself open to losing a goal and unfortunately we lost two.

“It kind of kicked the players into life and we managed to go 2-2, 3-2, 4-2, 5-2 in quick succession so it shows the level we can get to.

“But it’s important we don’t find ourselves in that situation because there will be games when we don’t get it back.

“We’ve got good players and in the first half we created a lot of opportunities with chances and shots. The main things was getting the points and you look at the league – Dundee won, Dunfermline won – so it was important we got three points.”

Neilson had to cope in the build-up to the match with an unnamed player testing positive for Covid-19. The individual in question is self-isolating and is not seriously unwell, and the Hearts boss admitted that while he was happy the virus had not spread throughout the squad, it was “disappointing” to lose a player from his pool.

"It’s part of the season and we’ve had a number of teams that have been in the same situation,” added Neilson.

"The pleasing thing for us is that it hasn’t spread within the group, we have followed protocols and everyone is happy with it. I’m disappointed to lose a player but it’s going to be like that the way things are going at the moment.”

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