Home comforts must be appreciated if Hearts are to make their mark in Europe, says captain

MIKE AITKEN
HEARTS captain Robbie Neilson has urged the club not to sacrifice home advantage for increased commercial revenue if the team should qualify for European football next season.
The defender believes the players would receive a significant boost if ties were held at Tynecastle rather than Murrayfield, the venue in season 2006-7.

"I think it's vitally important to play at Tynecastle," insisted the skipper. "I played at Murrayfield and it's just not the same. It's a big stadium, it's never full and it's a totally different experience.

"When you've played your whole season of maybe 20 games at Tynecastle, then you go and play in a different stadium, it's like an away game.

"It's not a good atmosphere and I don't think it suits us. If we do make Europe I think we really have to play at Tynecastle."

As yet, the prospect of Hearts playing European football is only a possibility rather than a certainty.

However, as the recession continues to bite, it's questionable if the Gorgie club would expect to draw attendances in the Europa League capable of emulating the 58,000 attracted to the home of Scottish rugby to watch a friendly against Barcelona.

Hearts also played the likes of Ferencvaros, Schalke 04 and AEK Athens over the years at Murrayfield in competitive matches which failed to match the atmosphere of previous European nights at Tynecastle, where the capacity is around 17,000. Before engaging in a debate over where to play European ties, of course, Hearts have to complete the job first of finishing third in the SPL.

"Our aim was to get into the top six this season, but, now that's secured, if we don't finish third then it will be disappointing," he said. "As a player, once you're sitting in third place and a few points clear with only a few games left, you should be closing in and finishing the season in third place.

"If we can go into the last five games with a seven-point lead, I'm confident we can finish third. I don't think anybody is going to go on a run of games and pick up 15 points from the five post-split games. If we pick up a couple of wins after the split I'm pretty sure we can finish third.

"It's disappointing from our point of view that we haven't been able to mount a challenge to them (the Old Firm]. If we make the Europa League, it's more appealing for bringing players in. Hopefully we can invest this summer and then next season can be a big season for Hearts."

One of the senior players, along with Michael Stewart, who has gone out of his way to encourage Calum Elliot since the striker returned to the club from a loan spell with Livingston, Neilson believes the forward can progress if he takes disappointment less personally.

"I've always believed Calum (below) is a good player," added the full-back. "He has all the attributes. He's strong, he's fast, he's got a good touch and good movement. I think he just needs confidence. People forget he was a really young player when he broke into the team and he's still only 21.

"He had a hard time and when he came back I think it was important the players looked after him, making sure he felt confident. He's been looking good in training and against Rangers and Kilmarnock he brought that on to the pitch.

"You can see with Calum that, when something goes wrong, his head goes down. But I think he's getting stronger mentally as he gets older. I think the fans appreciate when a player has a hard time and then gets back in the team and starts doing well.

"The players probably appreciate it more because we all realise you are only a couple of games away from having the boo boys on your back again. That puts the pressure on, but I think Calum is realising he has to just shrug it off if he has a couple of bad touches in a game. After scoring two goals last weekend we hope that's him turned the corner and we can start seeing the real Calum Elliot."

Taken from the Scotsman