Fight is back, says Neilson

ROBBIE Neilson hopes Monday's convincing win over Falkirk can act as the necessary catalyst to get Hearts' championship challenge back on track.

The 25-year-old defender, who has been an ever-present for Hearts in the SPL this season, admits the players were aware of increasing pressure on the club's head coach, Graham Rix, after a string of disappointing performances.

That poor run culminated in last weekend's limp showing in a 1-0 defeat at Ibrox, but after scoring five goals without reply against John Hughes' side, Neilson sees cause for optimism ahead of Sunday's crunch match with league leaders Celtic at Tynecastle.

He said: "We have struggled in the last few weeks and have gone through a wee dip in form. We spoke during the week about the game at Ibrox where we did not perform at all and I think you can see the difference now - the fight is back in the team."

Hearts have been linked with moves for the midfield duo of Darren Potter and Bruno Aguiar, with the latter set to arrive on trial from Benfica next week, and Neilson believes increased competition for places in the Tynecastle squad can further improve their title credentials.

"We have got a strong squad," added Neilson. "There were boys that were not even on the bench against Falkirk that are really good players, so we have got a decent sized squad."

Reports yesterday suggested Aberdeen midfielder Scott Severin may be on the verge of returning to Tynecastle but Leicester City are also said to be interested.

Taken from the Scotsman