Robbie Neilson has defended Hearts youngster Lewis Neilson after his red card against Fiorentina.
The teenage centre-back was given his marching orders for a foul on striker Luka Jovic as the Jambos went down 3-0 in a bruising Europa Conference League defeat at Tynecastle on Thursday night. Goals from Rolando Mandragora and Christian Kouame put the Serie A heavyweights in control at half-time before Jovic added a third after the interval.
It was a straightforward victory for La Viola, with Hearts struggling to lay a glove on their opponents throughout. Their recovery cause was not helped by Neilson's dismissal barely two minutes post-restart, the defender adjudged to have denied a goalscoring opportunity by pulling former Real Madrid forward Jovic's shirt as the ball bounced through towards keeper Craig Gordon. His manager didn't dispute the decision but insisted the experience will be an invaluable one for the 19-year-old.
The Hearts boss said: "A little bit of inexperience from Lewis. He's been fantastic for us in recent weeks. He’s playing against a 55m player, we spoke about being high and aggressive but it's that body positioning. Lewis will live and learn from it but it’s a great experience for the kid.
"They realise the level they need to try and get to. You look at some of the players, they are strong and athletic. We’ve a game against them next week and we need to have a better performance."
Despite the result, Neilson insisted he was proud of his team's efforts - although was frustrated by what he believed to be three preventable goals. He said: "I’m proud of the players for competing against a good Serie A side.
"The goals were preventable. We gave them two sloppy goals where we didn’t pick up runners and the third we overcommit.
"A little bit of inexperience. We’ve got young players in there and they’ll learn from it and I felt we were a bit reactive rather than positive."
