Robbie Neilson vowed to continue speaking his mind despite being handed a suspended two-game ban by an SFA disciplinary panel. Hearts head coach was found guilty of "indicating bias or incompetence" against Willie Collum and his team of officials by revealing they had trained with 10 men in the lead-up to their defeat at Hamilton in August. Following Callum Paterson's red card, which was later rescinded, Neilson said: ''In the recent past, the statistics involving the officials have shown a lot of red cards against us, so we have to prepare for it. The next time we get these officials, we will again train with 10 men." Neilson went to Hampden on Thursday armed with statistics which backed up his assertion - Collum has sent off four Hearts players in six games - but defeat and the prospect of a touchline ban will not alter his approach. He said: "Not at all, I will say what I believe I want to say. I'm not going to have any issues with that. I was disappointed at the outcome but you stand by it. They decided what they decided and we have to move on. It's part of football, they make their decision and we have to accept it."
Hearts welcome Kilmarnock to Tynecastle today looking for their first Premiership win in five games. But they have got back on track following three consecutive defeats against Accies, Inverness and Aberdeen by knocking Killie out the League Cup and holding Celtic last weekend. And they have remained in third spot in the table courtesy of their five opening victories. Neilson said: "The cup win was great, it got us back to winning ways, and we went to Parkhead and got a good draw. I always knew going into that period, that it would be hard. We went to Hamilton and then we were playing against the team that won the Scottish Cup and finished third, then we were playing the teams that finished second and first. It was always going to be a difficult period and we knew we had to pick up points before that. We picked up a point against Celtic, which was probably the one we least expected to get a point from. But now we move into games where we hope we can pick up more points."
Kevin McHattie aims to prove a point by taking the three that are on offer today. The Kilmarnock left-back faces his former club for the first time since leaving Hearts at the end of the transfer window having been cup-tied for the Ayrshire club's League Cup defeat. McHattie is joined by the likes of manager Gary Locke and goalkeeper Jamie MacDonald in returning to face the Jambos in the Premiership and he admits there is no problem with motivation.
McHattie, who made 82 appearances for Hearts said: "We are going out to prove a point. Obviously they thought we weren't good enough and things like that. Hopefully we go back and prove a point and take three points. That's the way to react from setbacks in life, you just have to take it on the front foot, take a step forward and see what's available around you. I came here and It's a great opportunity for me to play. That's why I left Hearts, to get game time. At my age you need to play week in, week out. I had to do it for my career. I think it was time for a change. I had been at the club for five years. It was obviously great being there but coming here I think the same. It's a massive club and we will try to push for the top six and see where we are at the end of the season."