Exclusive: Robbie Neilson explains form of Hearts midfield pairing and where they must improve

The two summer signings have been among the stronger contributors in the Hearts side this season as the Gorgie Road outfit sit third in the league table and recently advanced to the quarter-final of the Scottish Cup.

However, neither have displayed the consistency of late which characterised their early-season form as Hearts have now gone four matches without winning inside 90 minutes.

Fatigue is a factor with neither having experienced anything quite like the rigours of a full Scottish football season prior to this one. Though their boss insists they need to get back to performing how they were previously in order for Hearts to dominate opponents in the centre of the 3-4-3 formation with the regularity of the summer months.

“I felt they’ve been sitting too flat. I get on them all the time of one being higher and the other back like a 10 and a 6. Sometimes they just sit as two 8s and they don't really get up and affect the game, then you get loads of space in the middle and don't dominate,” Neilson told the Evening News. “It's just something we continually work at.

“It's very much a system we want to play. We don't want to lose two games and then rip it up and try something else. This is how we play but we need to make sure we get better at it.

“Earlier in the season I thought we dominated in there because we were getting forward with one sitting and one going. But then they start to sit a wee bit.

“We went through it a week or two ago when we weren't great, then we get it going again. It's like anything in football. You speak to players about one thing for two weeks and then you move on to something else and they forget about what you told them two weeks ago.

“We just need to keep reiterating it. It's an area where we