HEARTS manager Robbie Neilson praised the spirit within his depleted squad as the Tynecastle side mustered another energetic performance to come from behind in an entertaining meeting at Tannadice.

Neilson had another injury to contend with as Aaron McEneff joined the treatment room but he was bullish in his response: “We are down to the bare bones but the bones are strong.”

In fairness, it was an accurate depiction of his side. Having come out of the blocks strongly for a whirlwind start to the game, Dundee United looked to unsettle a Hearts side that are missing John Souttar, Stephen Kinglsey, Michael Smith, Andy Halliday and Craig Halkett.

Dylan Levitt netted a skilful opening goal before Liam Boyce and Josh Ginnelly put Hearts in the driving seat. When Ryan Edwards levelled the scores, Hearts might well have been content to settle for a point.

Instead, it was Ellis Simms who came off the bench to give them the win and open up a 19-point gap between Hearts and Dundee United in third and fourth place.

“The fans spend their money coming up here so we can’t say we’ve got a cup final in five weeks so get the cigar out,” said Neilson. “When you play with Hearts you’ve got to win. Today was for us to show we wanted to win the game, we have had a good season but there are four tough games and a cup final to come.

“It took them scoring the goal to fire us into life a bit, but once we got control of the game I was confident we’d get the goals.”

Levitt’s opener was a fine strike. The on-loan Manchester United midfielder calmly kept his composure inside the box as put the ball through the legs of Peter Haring and then eluded Alex Cochrane before dispatching his effort into the bottom left-hand corner.

It was a just return for United who had looked the hungrier and more energetic of the sides in the opening exchanges with Tam Courts revealing after the game that he had asked Levitt to put pressure on himself to dictate the tempo of the encounter.

“To start off like that and score like that….I actually asked him today to go and make a big demand of himself and to go and control the game,” he said. “Unfortunately that didn’t materialise. For all that it was a big moment I was looking forward to seeing him then go and control the rest of the game and that did not materialise.”

Indeed, United seemed to sit off Hearts after opening the scoring. By the time that Boyce had restored parity -  Nathaniel Atkinson’s low and pacey cross was palmed by Siegrist into the striker’s path – there had seemed an inevitability about the leveller.

It got worse after the interval for the Tannadice side when Josh Ginnelly, making his first start since February and producing the kind of display that could put him in contention for a place in Hearts’ Scottish Cup final squad, put the visitors in front for the first time in the game.

Alex Cochrane had a hand in the goal with a perfectly weighted long pass that picked out Ginnelly inside the box and in behind the United defence. His first touch took him past the advancing Siegrist before converting into an empty net.

To their credit, United went at it again, forcing themselves back into the game with a fine rasping 30-yard effort from defender Ryan Edwards. Having beaten Boyce to the ball he let fly with a right-foot effort that thundered beyond the reach of Gordon.

With the shackles off and both teams going for a winner, Hearts carried the greater menace of the two teams. Barrie McKay looked to certain to score after bursting forward from the middle of the park only to bring out a decent stop from Siegrist but Ellis Simms came off the bench to have the last laugh.

McKay, one the real success stories of Hearts’ season, was the architect of the winner as he played in Simms for the on-loan Everton forward to net his sixth goal for the club.

United host Motherwell this weekend with just one point the teams. Both are pushing for a European place with Courts urging his side to embrace this pressure rather than fear it.

“It is huge but I will reiterate that we should be enjoying these games, we should be playing them with a smile on our faces,” he said. “All the hard work, all the tricky stuff is done and we should be looking forward to the games and enjoying being in a fight to get a European place. It is a huge carrot for us.”