New deal will seal reversal of fortune for Jambo Robbie

TWELVE months ago Robbie Neilson was worried he wouldn’t have a future with Hearts - now he’s set to become one of the longest-serving players at Tynecastle.

The beginning of 2003 was an uncertain period for the full-back who had returned to Tynecastle after being farmed out on loan to First Division outfit Queen of the South.

Boss Craig Levein had offered the defender, who joined the club as a 15-year-old, the opportunity of a six-month stint at Palmerston Park in a bid to restore his confidence after he had fallen out of the first-team picture and the former Rangers kid made the most of the chance.

As is often the case, one step back can lead to two forward and rejuvenated by his spell in Dumfries, where he captured his first senior medal by helping the Doonhamers to Bell’s Cup glory over Brechin City at Broadwood, Neilson reported back to Gorgie a much-improved player.

He returned to the first-team fray after an 18-month absence in the latter stages of last season and did well enough in the following games to convince Levein to offer him a new one-year deal.

The right-back has continued his progress this season to such an extent that Levein has already opened discussions aimed at extending the 23-year-old’s stay at Tynecastle beyond this summer when his current deal expires.

"The gaffer called me in last week to talk about a new deal for me," said Neilson, who made his first-team debut at home against Dunfermline in September 2000.

"Things are at an early stage but hopefully we’ll get something sorted out shortly.

"It will be good to have a bit of security as this time last year I was sweating on my future. I had been on loan at Queen of the South and was wondering just what was going to happen.

"I worked hard to get back into the team and things worked out reasonably well.

"There is no doubt in my mind that had I not gone to Queen of the South on loan, I wouldn’t still be at Hearts. It helped me enjoy my football again and playing in competitive games every week was much better than being in the Under-21s here. I feel my consistency has improved but that can only come with playing regularly. It is difficult to achieve any sort of consistency when you’re playing just a few games at a time."

A regular starter in recent weeks, Neilson is set to line up in his usual berth when newly-crowned champions Celtic visit Tynecastle on Sunday for Hearts’ first game after the split.

Neilson is one of the few players still at Tynecastle with experience of the club’s most recent forays into Europe - he played against Stuttgart during Jim Jefferies’ reign and started both legs against Bordeaux this season - and the Gorgie star is keen to add more European experience to his CV.

Dunfermline’s midweek victory over Inverness Caley Thistle in the Tennent’s Scottish Cup semi-final - which has taken the Pars through to a Hampden showdown with the Parkhead outfit in May - would appear, on paper at least, to have taken some of the pressure off the Hearts players in the run-in as it means fourth spot in the SPL is now good enough for entry into the UEFA Cup.

Levein’s men currently sit eight points clear of the Fifers and ten points ahead of fifth-placed Motherwell with just five games remaining. However, while acknowledging Hearts would settle for a ticket to Europe via any route, Neilson wants to see the Jambos finish the job in style over the remaining few weeks of the campaign.

"We have been stumbling along in recent weeks and have looked like falling over the finishing line," he said.

"We haven’t been taking our chances but we are determined to take that third spot.

"With Dunfermline facing Celtic in the Scottish Cup final, fourth place gets you into the UEFA Cup but we want to finish third for the second season running and prove once again that we are the best outwith the Old Firm."

Levein came agonisingly close to recording his first managerial victory over Celtic at Parkhead three weeks ago, two goals in the closing seconds rescuing a 2-2 draw for the home side.

With Aberdeen having upset the odds to end the Hoops’ 77-game unbeaten home record in midweek, the champions will head to Gorgie intent on restoring their pride.

But Neilson insists Hearts can take confidence from pushing Sunday’s opponents so close on their own patch.

He said: "This is the toughest game we could have had after the split but after the way we played against them at Parkhead we have got to go into the game confident of taking three points.

"We should have won that game but this time we will have the supporters on our side and will give it our best shot.

"We never thought we had that game won, although we were aware of the clock ticking down.

"We have to make sure we keep the foot to the pedal for the duration of the match.

"It is obviously a very difficult test for us and the Celtic players have deservedly dominated the nominations for the honours this season after their achievements. But we are looking forward to Sunday and go into the match with spirits high."

Taken from the Scotsman