Buzzing Robbie Neilson dedicated his side's Europa Conference League win over Rigas FS to the fans and backed them to drink the pubs dry in Riga.
The Hearts boss was thrilled with a 2-0 win over the Latvian champions which put their first three points on the Group A board and pulled in £420,000 in UEFA prize money. A Lawrence Shankland penalty and an injury time strike from Alan Forrest secured the first group stage away success for the Jambos since 2004 and Neilson hailed the 1300 strong travelling support which deserve their night on the tiles.
He said: “I’m delighted to get the win and the three points. We knew coming here we were playing against a very good team, they drew with Fiorentina last week. So we knew we had to be prepared. They created some chances but I thought over the course of the game we created more clear cut ones.
“So I’m really pleased, firstly for the fans. What a night they are going to have tonight, they have backed this club to the absolute hilt, they put their money in every month. It’s expensive to come here at this time of year, hopefully we have repaid them a bit."
Neilson was refusing to get carried away after ending a recent run of just one win from seven games and he's adamant his focus is now on building on the Rigas result which moved them into second spot on the Group A table after İstanbul Başakşehir beat Fiorentina in Turkey.
He said: “I’m delighted at being second but we need to go to Fir Park on Sunday now. This is great to be involved in, it’s great to get a result but the league is our bread and butter, it’s the most important thing, we need to get back to winning ways there.
“Let’s not get too carried away, Fiorentina are third or fourth in Serie A, they’re not a bad side. It will be another very tough game but I hope tonight gives the players confidence that they can play and win games at this level.
“It’s all about recovery now, the club have been brilliant. We are staying here tonight so we can recover properly and then we’ll fly back. We’ll be as prepared as possible and they will be because they are starting to get used to this now.”
The one negative of the night was a recurrence of Craig Halkett's hamstring injury which forced the defender off after 19 minutes and Neilson admitted his gamble to start the Scotland squad man was always a risk and praised teenager Lewis Neilson for excelling as his replacement.
He said: “It’s always a risk but hopefully it is not as bad as the last time. He felt a wee twinge in the same spot and felt it was better to come. He won’t make Sunday but then we have a couple of weeks and I am hoping he’ll be back after that.
“It keeps just flagging up a wee bit, which is disappointing. We’ll see. Lewis Neilson was outstanding, for a 19-year-old kid to come in and play Conference League against a very good team.
“Physically he did well and on the ball he was outstanding as well. In time he will be a top player."
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