Scott Robinson has accused manager Gary Locke of 'picking' on him after he was replaced at half-time for the second successive game at the weekend.
The Hearts midfielder admits he deserved to be substituted in the 0-0 draw with Dundee United, describing his performance as 'really poor', but the 21-year-old appears to be harbouring a feeling of injustice following Locke's decision to remove him in favour of Billy King in the 2-0 defeat to St Mirren on Saturday.
Robinson, who has started every match this season, was removed in a tactical switch as Hearts sought to retrieve a 1-0 half-time deficit. But the frustrated youngster, who was forced to apologise to then manager John McGlynn last season after refusing to sit on the bench against Aberdeen, admits that his confidence has been sapped by Locke's recent decisions.
"I put my hand up and admit that last week I wasn't in the game at all," he said. "I made a few errors and I was really poor. But on Saturday, I think it was a case of 'I'll just pick on him again and take him off'. I didn't think I was the poorest out of the midfield four. It's just been me on the day.
"Now my confidence is really low again. It's just the case that, if things are going wrong, I probably know it will be me coming off. That's just the way it is. I just need to hope things are going well for the team or I'll be first to come off. I've just got to try and be as positive as I can and, I suppose, believe in myself. If it's not going well for the team, I can't be the one to have a good game by myself. I admit I was by far the worst last week, but I didn't think I was the worst on Saturday."
Locke has responded by insisting the midfielder will have a "big part to play" in Hearts' attempts to avoid relegation. He said: "Scott is that type of boy. He does get a bit emotional and he does react in certain ways at times. On Saturday, I just felt we needed to change things at half-time. It was just one of those things. It's a long, hard season. We've got players who are going to play and players who are going to come off - it's very much everybody is in it together."
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