Hearts boss Robbie Neilson has defended his players, insisting that the Jam Tarts don't have a discipline problem.

The Tynecastle side have been reduced to 10 men in each of their last two matches - against Dundee United and in the Scottish Cup replay loss to Hibernian.

But Neilson rejects the notion that his players have an issue with controlling themselves on the pitch after the dismissal of Blazej Augustyn and Jordan McGhee in back-to-back matches.

"Not at all," he said when asked if it was a problem in his view.

"I think the Augustyn one against Hibs, that wasn’t a second yellow. The McGhee one at Dundee United last week wasn’t a second yellow.

"So I can’t fault the players. I look at the two incidents and for me they shouldn’t be sent off. So no, I don’t think there’s a problem there.

"The referee makes the decision when he’s out there and there’s nothing you can do about it.

"I was disappointed with the outcome of both of them, but we just need to accept them and move on."

Hearts currently find themselves in third place in the Premiership table, and Neilson has underlined the targets he set for his side.

"The objective for the season was to get top six," he reiterated. "That’s still not secured yet so we need to try and secure it.

"Once we do that we try and aim as high as we can. At the moment we’re aiming for Aberdeen and we’re going to try and get as close as possible to them."