Robbie Neilson is expecting Hearts’ trip to St Mirren to be a harder game than their league opener against Celtic.
The Jambos got off to a winning start on their return to the Scottish Premiership with a 2-1 win over the Hoops at Tynecastle last Saturday night.
But they face their first test away from Gorgie tomorrow at the SMISA Stadium - a venue they haven’t recorded a league win at in over a decade.
And Neilson is preparing for an even tougher encounter than they got on their own patch last weekend.
“It was obviously a good result on Saturday night but as soon we we came back in it was all eyes on St Mirren, because in all honesty we know it will probably be a harder game,” he said.
“It’s an away game for us and it’s been a long time since Hearts have won down at St Mirren, so we need to make sure that we;re ready for it.
“I haven’t had to calm the players down at all. They just come in and work away. We’ve been emphasising the fact that the Celtic game is done and it’s on to the next one now.
“For a lot of the players, they’ve never been in the Premiership with Hearts or seen Hearts in the Premiership. It’s a realisation for them that we’re expected to go and win week in, week out in the top flight.”
After confirming the imminent signing of Australian midfielder Cameron Devlin and shooting down links to Dundee United striker Lawrence Shankland, Neilson revealed he’s looking to sign defenders next.
Since switching to three at the back, Hearts need more cover at centre half, with only really Mihai Popescu in reserve should either John Souttar, Craig Halkett or Stephen Kingsley become unavailable.
And the Hearts boss admitted there are a couple of options being pursued.
He added: ‘We’re still looking in that area. I think we need to strengthen so there’s a couple of players we’re looking at and it’s just a case of trying to get them done.”
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