Robbie Neilson says Hearts' eyes are on securing third spot as they bid to go into the international break on a high.
The Jambos' hopes of lifting silverware this season were ended after Celtic picked up a big 3-0 win in the capital in the Scottish Cup quarter-final showdown. The duo went head to head during the week on league duty with the Hoops running out 3-1 winners under the lights at Parkhead and they kept their Treble hopes alive with a thumping win in Gorgie.
Hearts boss Neilson admitted it was 'hugely disappointing' to go out at the last eight stage with hopes of taking that next step after recent years of falling just shy. But it wasn't to be this campaign with all focus now on finishing best of the rest behind Ange Postecoglou's men and Rangers come the end of the season.
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The Gorgie club enjoyed a European group stage adventure earlier this campaign and they are out to do similar next season with Aberdeen next up before Scotland's Euro 2024 qualifying campaign gets underway with games against Cyprus and Spain.
He told the Hearts website : “It’s hugely disappointing to go out the cup. We have done really well in recent years and we had hoped this year we would be able to take the next step, but it wasn’t to be.
“To lose such an early goal is a huge disappointment, but to the credit of the players and the fans, we managed to get a foothold back in the game and to lose a goal right before half-time was a real killer for us.
“But again, we came out in the second half and tried to press and were aggressive, but towards the end, I felt we just ran out of steam.”
“When you play against the Old Firm and you get these opportunities, you have to take them, because they don’t come along very often.
“For us now, it is all eyes on the league and securing that third position. We have a huge game against Aberdeen next weekend to hopefully try and extend our lead before we go into the international break.”
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