'I'm not a great believer in it' - Neilson questions Hearts training trip

Former Hearts captain and manager Robbie Neilson thinks a warm weather pre-split training camp could be more of a hindrance than a help for Derek McInnes' table-topping side.

The Tynecastle club were due to head to the Dubai for a five-day warm weather training camp at the start of March, a trip that had to be cancelled because of the conflict in the Middle East.

Instead Hearts will reportedly go to Spain during Scottish Cup semi-final weekend on 18-19 April to prepare for the post-split fixtures.

"I think that what it does is it guarantees you good training sessions because you don't know what the weather's going to be like in Scotland," Neilson told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"It gives you an opportunity to go out and maybe train twice a day if you want. But I prefer it if you have a winter break and you've maybe got three or four weeks off and you go for a week. I think when you're in the rhythm of the season, I'm not a great believer in it.

"You'll miss a day travelling, you then have to acclimatise to the temperature, or the change in pitches. You're probably not going to train twice a day because you don't want to overload them for the game that's coming up in a week or 10 days' time.

"Personally, if it was me, I wouldn't be going at this time of year. I would do it in the winter camp, in pre-season, but I think at this time you want to stay in that rhythm. The rhythm of the weather, the training, everything that's going on because it's doing so well for them at the moment.

"I think if you're looking at it from a training perspective, it's probably not great because you know you're not going to be able to do a mini pre-season, you don't have enough time so you're just going to carry the same training load that you probably would back home.

"But taking them away and out of the environment, psychologically, for the players could be beneficial for them."