Robbie Neilson reminded Hearts they have a responsibility to entertain after a 'slack' second-half display in seeing off Hamilton Accies.

The Tynecastle men are the first club into the Scottish Cup last eight as they secured a 2-0 victory over their Championship opponents on Friday night.

Goals from Stephen Humphrys and Cammy Devlin were enough to see off John Rankin's spirited side, who went to the well again after putting in a 120 minute shift to reach the SPFL Trust Trophy final earlier this week.

Hearts started vibrantly and could have been out of sight by the half-time whistle sounded, but Accies let the handbrake off after the interval and the Premiership's third-placed team never really recovered their fluency and momentum, despite Devlin adding a decisive second.

"We started really well," Neilson said. "We controlled the first half and got the goal. Not getting the second goal puts you under pressure, and in the second half we were slack for a period and started overplaying.

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"They put us under pressure but making changes and bringing Alan Forrest on gave that lift. You want to put a performance on, we brought nearly 4,000 on a cold rainy night and you want to entertain them. At times we did, at times we didn’t."

Humphrys, after smashing in a goal of the season contender at the weekend, showed a clinical touch, and is making it increasingly difficult for Neilson not to pick him on a weekly basis.

"Stephen is a finisher, he gets into box and can shift left and right foot," Neilson said. "I thought he was bright, there's lots to polish up but he’s a threat - they don’t all need to be from 60 yards.

"You're at Hearts yorue expected to get to the latter stages of the cup, now we can relax for the weekend and see the draw on Monday night."