Robbie Neilson has urged Hearts to tighten their grip on third place in the cinch Premiership over the festive period.
The Tynecastle side have four games remaining before the winter break and, with three of them against the league’s bottom three teams – Dundee, Ross County and St Johnstone – the manager senses a chance for his side to increase the five-point advantage they currently hold over Dundee United and Motherwell.
He said: “It’s an exciting period for us. We’ve got four games coming up before the break and it’s four games we’re really looking forward to.
“It’s always difficult at this time of year with weather and surfaces but we’ve got an opportunity to put down a real marker and get a good end to the first half of the season, and that’s what we’re hoping to do.
“We’re sitting five clear in third at the moment but that could change very quickly. We’re hoping to extend that gap but other teams will be hoping to close it, so it’s up to us to get wins on the board. After Dundee, we’ve got a couple of home games so I’d like to think we can pick up a few points.”
After some inconsistent form in recent months, Hearts have slipped 11 and 15 points behind Celtic and Rangers respectively. Neilson insists his team have got to keep striving to get closer to the league’s traditional top two.
He said: “You’ve got to aim for it. We’d be doing a disservice to the club and the fans if we thought we weren’t going to try. We have to try to get close to them.
“In the two games recently against them at Parkhead (1-0 defeat to Celtic) and then against Rangers at home (2-0 defeat), we showed we’re close to them, but it’s just those final moments that we’ve not got. It’s an area we need to improve in.”
Neilson will welcome Michael Smith back from injury for Saturday’s trip to Dundee, while he remains hopeful that Beni Baningime could be back in time for the derby against Hibernian on 3 January.
He said: “Beni’s doing a wee bit of light training. We’ll see how he goes. It’s an injury we need to be careful with but we’ll give him every opportunity to get back before the break.”
