Busy life just the job for Rob

LIKE Robbie Neilson doesn't have enough to occupy him right now. Whilst August was always going to involve an attempt to cement Hearts' place atop the SPL and maintain their Champions League status, the full-back spent the early part of this week introducing himself to the Scotland squad.

For a follow-up - no point in doing things by half - he must ready himself for a game against Rangers at Ibrox tomorrow. Neilson, though, knows this is exactly how he imagined it. Life as a celebrated professional footballer at the highest level is fervid, and he simply can't get enough.

Visiting the only arena to deny Hearts points last season would be cause for a touch of trepidation amongst most players. But, apparently, not the current Hearts squad. This is Vladimir Romanov's Hearts. Big, bolshy, defiant Hearts with an assertive attitude that Neilson has helped manifest.

"We're sitting top of the league just now and our performances at Ibrox over the last year or two have been very good," he says.

"We're looking to go there and take three points. We're as confident as we've ever been ahead of a trip to Glasgow."

Ibrox is a venue where a stringent examination of the away team's capabilities is guaranteed. Neilson should know. He was born just along the road in Paisley and was on Rangers' books as a youth before playing there five times since with his colleagues from Tynecastle.

It's been a considerable time since Hearts darkened the stadium's red sandstone frontage carrying anything other than underdog status, but many assumptions have been dramatically transformed since Romanov arrived in Edinburgh.

Given their position as league leaders, allied to last season's nudging of Rangers into third place, there is perhaps some justification for the belief that the squad in Gorgie deserve parity with their Glasgow counterparts ahead of tomorrow's encounter.

It's a notion Neilson manages to sufficiently indulge whilst juggling all the other priorities in his mind.

"We didn't take any points there last season but the second game, which was the last game of the season, wasn't really a fair one to judge us in because I think most of us were focusing on the cup final the following week. It wasn't exactly our strongest team.

"But, if you want to challenge for titles in Scotland you need to be taking points from Celtic Park and Ibrox. I've enjoyed just being part of things with Scotland this week and it is a busy time for us with the European game next week, but that's what you want.

"We only did a couple of light training sessions up at St Andrews as it was only a get-together but I met all the boys, most of whom I knew anyway from playing with or against them.

"It was great to be involved and hopefully now I can force myself into the manager's plans for the European Championship qualifiers."

More responsibility? Yes, but cocking an ear expecting to hear Neilson's shoulders creak under the weight would be a forlorn exercise.

After all, any defender who sees his position vacant in the national team is going to have an evident spring in their step. "Right-back is a position in which I feel I could do a job for Scotland," he continues. "The only way to make that happen is to be doing well for Hearts, not getting carried away and doing your business on a week-to-week basis.

"The change at the club over the last 18 months has done wonders for everyone's chances of playing international football. The team is sitting top of the league, challenging for honours, and the national coaches will be watching the games because we are playing at a high level like the Champions League.

"The European involvement this season has been vital for the boys because it really raises their profile internationally."

AEK Athens may or may not end that participation on the grandest platform next week but Neilson is your stereotypical "one-game-at-a-time" type of player. In truth, he has little option with so many potential fixtures backing up on his calendar. He admits his own international recognition and that of others like striker Roman Bednar has been detrimental to the preparations for Ibrox. "We haven't really spoken about Rangers until yesterday. Quite a few of the squad have been away on international duty and that's hindered Valdas a bit in terms of how he'd like to prepare. We were in for training early this morning and we will watch some videos before travelling through to Glasgow.

"A game like this is similar to the recent match with Celtic. It definitely does have a psychological bearing because if we go there and win it puts a marker down for the rest of the season. These are the teams that will be challenging for the league along with us so we need to go there and let them know we mean business.

"Roman Bednar is firing on all cylinders just now. He's a big, strong guy and always causes problems. He played for the Czech Republic on Wednesday too so that's only going to help his confidence. He has a presence and is an important player for us and Rangers always struggle to handle him."

The Czech's partner in crime, Edgaras Jankauskas, has been rendered inactive recently by a hamstring injury but a touch of selfless sacrifice could see the hulking Lithuanian return at Ibrox. Neilson went on: "He is fit and has been training for the last few days because he didn't go away with the Lithuanian team.

"He stayed back and did work at the training ground to get himself fit, so it looks like that could pay off on Saturday. Michal Pospisil has linked up well with Roman recently so it will be up to Valdas to decide which two play together."

One decision the head coach will not have to fret over is who occupies the right-back berth for Hearts. And, in the very near future, Walter Smith may find himself going through a similar routine of penning, not pencilling, the name of Robbie Neilson on a team sheet.

Taken from the Scotsman