Robbie Neilson admits tonight’s grudge match with Raith Rovers will be the first of several this season after the Jambos went to war with Scottish football during the summer.
The Tynecastle club railed against their relegation from the Scottish Premiership despite having played only 30 games, and took the league to court to fight their case.
That dragged Dundee United, Raith and Cove Rangers into proceedings, who feared their own promotions were at risk as a result of Hearts’ challenge.
The bad feeling from the whole affair is likely to linger for some time yet, and while the lack of fans at tonight’s Betfred Cup clash will take the sting out of it, Neilson still plans on using it for any motivational advantage that might be gained.
And it’s not likely to be a one-off either, with Hearts to face Raith plus a number of others who won’t be high on the Christmas card list over the course of the Championship campaign.
“There’s obviously a lot of things that have happened in the background over the last six or seven months,” he told Hearts TV.
“There will be a number of games like this this season.
“From our perspective, every game we go into this season, we have to win and in every game, there’s something bubbling in the background that we have to try and use, and it’ll be no different tonight.”
