Neilson irate despite Hearts win
ByPA Sport Report
Published 30/07/2015 at 21:46 GMT
Hearts head coach Robbie Neilson was furious with his players for treating their League Cup clash with Arbroath like a pre-season friendly despite watching the hosts win 4-2.
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The Jambos turned in a woeful first-half showing against the Ladbrokes League Two minnows and went in at half-time 1-0 down following David Gold's well-worked opener.
Hearts responded after the break with a three-goal blitz, which saw Jordan McGhee equalise before Osman Sow netted a double all in the space of four whirlwind minutes.
The sides exchanged late goals, with Martin Grehan scoring for the Red Lichties and Craig Wilson turning into his own net as Hearts booked their place in the second round.
However, Neilson was less than satisfied and warned his squad that he expects a marked improvement when St Johnstone visit Gorgie in their televised Premiership opener on Sunday.
He said: "We were disappointed, the first half was not acceptable. I think the players thought they were going to cruise to a result, but it was a bit of a wake-up call for all of us.
"We need to do far better than we did. I thought we passed the ball for the first 10 minutes then went flat.
"I think they viewed it as a pre-season game but when St Johnstone come it will be a completely different ball game."
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