Robbie Neilson has revealed his Hearts side will be jetting abroad for a winter training camp during the World Cup break.
The Edinburgh side have booked a return to Spain at the same resort they used during pre-season with the team set to spend a week at La Cala Resort on the Costa Del Sol. Hearts are due to depart Scotland on November 30 and return on December 7 – and Neilson says they are hoping to organise a friendly match during their stay too.
The trip will give the first-team squad several days of warm-weather training to prepare them for the rest of the Scottish Premiership campaign, which pauses after the weekend of November 12/13 to let players involved in the World Cup join their respective national teams.
Speaking to Edinburgh Evening News, Neilson confirmed: “We are going back to La Cala. The boys will get some time off and then we will go out there for a week. We hope to get a game organised out there and another game when we come back.
“It's a good facility with everything we need, pretty far out of the way, the pitch is good, the hotel is good and the gym is good. We just feel it will be good to go back there. The boys will be comfortable with it and get a good week's training.”
Hearts spent a week at the same location in June and were impressed enough with the facilities on offer to secure another trip. The players will be given time off immediately after their league match at home to Livingston on November 12 before jetting out to Spain.
Neilson previously challenging his injury-ravaged side to oust Hibs and reclaim third place in the Premiership before the World Cup break. The Tynecastle manager set out the target after first half goals from Lawrence Shankland and Andy Halliday secured a 2-1 triumph away to Ross County and lifted his team back into the top six. Hearts sit three points behind their great rivals with a game in hand after Sunday’s Dingwall exploits.
They now face a quality side in Basaksehir away on Thursday with nothing left but pride to fight for in the European Conference League. Then Hearts face Motherwell at home, Rangers away and Livingston at home before the winter break. Neilson, who has 10 or so players sidelined currently, said: “Third is where we want to be and we have another game next week. Depending on what happens at Pittodrie on Friday night we could potentially have the chance to move back into third.
“We have these games to play, so we will see. Today we were two games behind but the league is still too tight so if you win three games on the bounce you can move into third. With all these games and injuries it is about getting to the World Cup break in the best place possible.
“Then I would expect us to kick on. Aberdeen and Hibs are good teams this year – good teams, good managers. But our objective is to get third place in the league. We want European football and if we want that then we have to balance that with playing in Europe on a Thursday night.”
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