Lawrence Shankland reveals Hearts squad 'hurting' over Robbie Neilson sacking as he vows to make things right

Lawrence Shankland reckons the Hearts squad should feel guilty for getting Robbie Neilson the sack.

But the Jambos can at least start winning back the supporters with another derby win over Hibs. Hearts head across the city at lunchtime after a dramatic week where Neilson was binned on the back of five defeats on the spin and Steven Naismith stepped in to rescue the club’s third-place ambitions.

Shankland was gutted to see his old gaffer go – but he’s vowed to throw everything at getting the campaign back on track. He said: “It’s never nice to see a manager lose their job. I’ve worked with Robbie twice and have a good relationship with him and Jig (Lee McCulloch). I believe they gave their all and did a fantastic job over their spells at the club. I’m sure he’ll get back in the game. It’s part and parcel of the game unfortunately.

“The response was quiet from the boys, to be honest. It’s always a surprise when a manager loses his job. For me, as players, you need to feel a bit of responsibility for that. Essentially, you’ve lost someone their job. That’s not a nice feeling and it hurts a bit. That needs to be the case and we need to try to improve for Naisy. We need to make things better.”

Shankland believes a trip to Easter Road is just what Hearts need to shake off their slump. He said: “It’s massive. Any derby is massive but especially this one after the week we’ve had and the run of form we’re on. We probably couldn’t have handpicked a better game to put things right.

“It’ll be a tough going to Easter Road. They’re in a sticky spell as well but we’ll go with a clear idea of what we want to do that will give us a good chance of getting a result.”

Shankland is focused on Hibs but doesn’t want derby tunnel vision again.