Robbie's disappointment

Speaking to Hearts TV at full-time, Neilson said:

“It’s hugely disappointing to go out the cup. We have done really well in recent years and we had hoped this year we would be able to take the next step, but it wasn’t to be.

“To lose such an early goal is a huge disappointment, but to the credit of the players and the fans, we managed to get a foothold back in the game and to lose a goal right before half-time was a real killer for us.

“But again, we came out in the second half and tried to press and were aggressive, but towards the end, I felt we just ran out of steam.”

“When you play against the Old Firm and you get these opportunities, you have to take them, because they don’t come along very often.

“For us now, it is all eyes on the league and securing that third position. We have a huge game against Aberdeen next weekend to hopefully try and extend our lead before we go into the international break.”