TIE ISN'T DEAD YET..SPARTA WON'T LIVE WITH REAL JAMBOS SAYS ROBBIE NEILSON

ONE thing kept Robbie Neilson going through the dark hours after Hearts first leg Euro shaming by Sparta Prague - the Jambos were bad but the Czechs weren't much better.

And that's the thought he'll be holding on to when the Tynecastle side fly out to try to climb Mount UEFA on Thursday night, staring at a near unassailable two-goal deficit.

Full-back Neilsonis gutted at the prospect of going out of two Euro pean competitions at the first hurdle this season after the Champi ons League exit to AEK Athens last month.

What galls him more though is this time they blew it against a team he doesn't reckon could lace their boots on a good day.

That's why Robbie REFUSES to believe Hearts chances of making the lucrative group stages they reached under Craig Levein two years ago have van ished.

He said: "That's what makes it more frustrating for us - the Prague lot are not in the same league as the likes of AEK Athens.

"It's going to be hard - we hoped we'd take something over from the first leg but obviously didn't.

"They're not a great team. We just never played the way we can, didn't put on a show. We let the tie slip away. "But if we play anything like we know we can we have a chance. We can definitely go there and win.

"We have to stay positive and we do now believe we can do it.

"After the game we were so disappointed, not just with the result but with how we played.

"But a decent win against Motherwell then a hard win in midweek when it could have been a potential banana skin and we're set up for Aberdeen.

"Hopefully we can take three wins in a row in to midweek."

The problem for Hearts is that with 28 players used so far and the season not even two months old the chopping and changing has left gaffer Val-das Ivanauskas struggling to blend a squad into a team.

Their biggest successes came last season with consistency of selection, particularly through their "Mean Team" back four. This year Neilson admits it's an issue - but not an excuse.

He said: "There were 11 changes from Sunday against Motherwell to Wednesday against Alloa and it makes it tough to get to know the boys around you, to bond.

"But that's not what has caused our problems in Europe though.

"AEK were a good team and we had men sent off.

"Against Sparta it was just our level of performance that wasn't good enough no matter who had been out there. The changes had nothing to do with it.

"Yes, last season our best runs were when we were playing a consistent team, especially at the back.

"But then you look back at last year and we were really just playing Saturdays almost all the way through.

"Already this season guys such as Steven Pressley have played 14 games so you have to rotate the squad.

"Players can't play that number of games at that level and hope to last through 50-odd matches in a season. It's impossible.

"But we can make changes and still win. We've shown that in the last few games. We just can't keep the same team all the time now."

Taken from the Sunday Mail