Stephen Robinson spoke to the broadcast press ahead of his side’s clash with Hearts in the Ladbrokes Premiership.
Here are the headlines from the press conference.
On domestic football returning this weekend
“We’ve had five boys away on international duty and you use the opportunity to give a couple of days off to the boys that worked hard, but then you’re back into it again so yesterday was the first day we had the boys back.
“Obviously we’ve done a lot of prep in the background with the boys that were here ahead of the Hearts game. But I’m looking forward to having everybody back again and having a good season ahead of the game.
“In the three games leading up to the break we performed really well and got some very good results, so yeah is a bit stop-start which it always is but it’s the same for everybody. So we don’t use excuses. Instead we take the opportunity to try and improve what we can and build on what we’ve already done.”
On opponents Hearts
“Obviously Hearts have started very, very well and I guess there’s a little bit of incentive for us to be the first side to beat them this season, but we always have incentive for our home games.
“We had a brilliant home record last season and we aim to keep doing that this season, so it’s a big game no matter who we play.
“We know Hearts are going to be a strong team, it’ll be physical, and we have to match that. But I think we’re playing some very good stuff at the moment and it’s going to be a good game.”
On Craig Levein’s return to work
“We wish Craig well and I’m glad he’s back in the fold again and it would be really nice to see him in the dugout.
“We all have tough jobs so it would be great to see him. But I don’t think it will affect the performances of either teams, Hearts have good staff there too who I’m sure will be more than capable of dealing with that.
“I try not to get too involved with other managers on the touchline to be honest, it can distract from the game, so I don’t think it would make a difference for us either way.”