Sunday 22 March 2015 19:56, UK
Hearts boss Robbie Neilson has insisted everyone at Tynecastle has played a major part in gaining promotion in record time.
Neilson has enjoyed his first season in management as his young squad have swept aside their Championship opponents with considerable style throughout the campaign.
With an expensively assembled Rangers squad getting promoted to the Championship from League One at the end of last season, Neilson concedes he did not expect to win promotion so comfortably.
“No. It’s been a fantastic season for us and to win it this early is great,” Neilson told Sky Sports News HQ.
“We looked at the fixtures at the start of the season, we had Rangers in the first game then we had them in the last game and to be honest if you had asked me if I’d wanted a title decider at the end of the season I’d probably have taken it at that point.
“But to have such a great season, which is testament to the hard work the players have put in, it’s great for the club, and the fans have backed us to the hilt and I’m delighted for them.”
Promotion has been inevitable for Hearts for some time now and Hibernian’s 2-0 reverse to Rangers at Easter Road confirmed their return to the top-flight.
Just a year ago the club’s 140-year unbroken timeline was under serious threat, but supporters responded to the threat and through the Foundation of Hearts group to help stave off liquidation.
Aside from defeat to Celtic in the two major domestic cups, Hearts have only lost one league game all season when Falkirk won 3-2 at Tynecastle.
And although Neilson would have liked to have sealed the division at home to Queen of the South next weekend, he admits savouring the 3-0 win at Falkirk on Saturday to set up a promotion party tonight.
“It was nice to go there and right the wrong,” Neilson said. “Falkirk are a good team and they beat us on our own patch at Tynecastle and it was important that we went there and tried to get the three points, and it was another step for us.
“We had hoped we’d be able to do it next week, but it’s come early for us, Rangers have done us a turn and we’re going to celebrate tonight and enjoy it.
“It’s going to be fantastic. The tickets are sold out, there’s not a seat to be had in the place and we had geared up going into that game as a chance to win the title, but it’s done now and I’m sure it will be a great day to celebrate with the fans.
“They’ve put in a lot of hard work in the last few years setting up the Foundation of Hearts to fund us, they’ve supported us to the hilt home and away this season so they deserve it you know it’s going to be a great few days for them and hopefully they’ll be there on Saturday to back us again to try and get another three points.”
Neilson insists his players will not lack motivation for the remainder of the campaign, with matches against playoff hopefuls Hibernian, Rangers and Queen of the South still to come.
And the 34-year-old is already relishing the prospect of playing against Scotland’s biggest clubs next season, and hopes to see Hearts compete on all fronts.
“I think there’s a pride element for the players as well if you play for a team with Hearts’ stature you have to win games, and guys want to go into these games to get three points and to show that they are good players, and I’m sure I won’t have any hassle with that at all,” Neilson said.
“We have got Easter Road to go to, we’ve got Rangers to play twice, so there are still huge games to play in.
“As staff we’ll focus on next season, trying to recruit the players, and it gives us a bit of a head start to that, but you still have to win football matches, and we’ll try to do that on Saturday.
“It’s a big challenge for us next year, it’s a big step up playing against better players, better teams, so it’s important we recruit properly in the summer and the players prepare properly.
“We want to go up next season and get ourselves into the top six. It’s going to be difficult, we’re taking a huge step up in standard and if we can to that then it will b e a good season.
“This season was difficult in the cups but the main objective was to get promoted, we’ve done that, and next season we can focus on the league and the cups.”
