Robbie Neilson has slammed Hearts performance insisting that it wasn't good enough from the first whistle at Pittodrie.
The capital club got off to the worst possible start in the north east as Aberdeen raced into a three goal lead inside the opening 30 minutes of the Premiership contest at Pittodrie with the game effectively over inside that period. The Gorgie gaffer was left hugely disappointed as he detailed exactly where things went wrong for his men.
The race to finish best of the rest behind Celtic and Rangers is now firmly on with the Dons just four points behind Hearts with nine games to go this season. Hibs in fifth are just one point further back after they lost out at Celtic while Livingston are back in the picture with just six points between themselves in sixth and third spot following a home win.
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Neilson knows it is vital his side improve on their showing at Aberdeen and get themselves back on a winning streak to pull away clear in third. That starts with Kilmarnock after the international break before games with St Mirren, Hibs and Ross County before the top six and bottom six are determined for the league split.
Speaking to Hearts TV at full-time, the Hearts boss said: “It wasn’t good enough from the first whistle. We didn’t start well, we lost two early goals and we didn’t show the energy and the aggression that you need when you come here and that was the biggest disappointment.
“It wasn’t until the second half that we started a to play a wee bit and put balls in behind. In the initial stages, we didn’t win first or second contact and even in possession, we didn’t pass the ball quickly enough to threaten them, so we were miles off where we should be and where we want to be.
“We’ve got to improve on that today. We’ve got some huge games coming up in April and we need to make sure we go on a winning streak to make sure we get ourselves clear in third place and the only way to do that is to win at Kilmarnock.”
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