Robbie Neilson insists Hearts do not have a scoring problem but says it is vital they start finding the net first in games.

Strikers Tony Watt, Conor Sammon, Bjorn Johnsen and Robbie Muirhead have only scored three times between them in the league so far this season.

Neilson is not concerned about where the goals are coming from though and is instead focusing on the time they are netted.

He said: "It will come, I have 100% faith in all the strikers. They are really good players and you can see that in training but sometimes every team goes through a little period where they find it hard to hit the back of the net.

"Our goalscoring record is very good, it's just that we are spreading the goals across the team. In a way that is a good thing but ideally you'd like your strikers to be hitting double figures.

"Even before the game at Kilmarnock we had planned changes because it is a really quick turnaround with the three days and two away games, with lots of travelling as well. We will stick to what we planned to do."

Hearts have only won one fixture this season where they have conceded the first goal - when they defeated Hamilton Accies 3-1 in September.

They have also failed to score the first goal in four of the last six games they have played.

Neilson claims it not only makes a difference statistically but can also benefit the players' mentality.

He said: "[Getting consistency] is very difficult, I think the first goal in this league makes a massive difference.

"Percentage-wise it is huge, something like 65% or 70% of teams who score the first goal will win the game.

"We had our chances on Wednesday to score that first goal and we didn't do it. That is one of the most important parts of the game, getting that first goal.

"To get consistency you need to get that first goal."