Blair Spittal checked into professional football as a late substitute for Lawrence Shankland with Queen’s Park. Almost exactly 12 years after that low key debut at Montrose – and having been reunited with his old mucker at Hearts – the midfielder is readying himself for Shankland checking OUT of Tynecastle.
Scotland’s player of the year openly revealed at the weekend that, as things stand, he will be leaving Gorgie in the next seven months with his contract running down. But Spittal insists nobody inside the Tynecastle dressing room has been shaken by his bombshell – least of all Shankland himself.
The duo broke through at the Spiders as raw 16-year-olds in 2012. Fast forward a dozen years – and more than 200 goals for Shankland – and few inside Hearts know what makes the hitman tick better than Spittal.
The goals have dried up this season after a remarkable tally of 31 in the last campaign. The offer of a bumper new deal that was on the table but remained unsigned at the start of the year has disappeared too. But while Shankland’s honesty over his contract situation in Gorgie may have made created noise on the outside with the transfer window just a month away, Spittal insists there were no shockwaves inside the squad.
He said: “Not at all. In football these days it’s common for boys to go into the last year of their contracts. It’s not affected the changing room – or Lawrence. Whatever happens happens and we just need to concentrate on what we’re doing. We have a really busy schedule coming up and those sort of things will take care of themselves whenever that is. Lawrence’s main focus at the minute is on making sure he’s putting in good performances and getting back on the scoresheet.”
Spittal certainly hasn’t lost faith in his captain getting back on the goal trail. He knows what Shankland’s about. As Hearts prepare to fly out to Belgium for tomorrow’s Europa Conference League clash with Cercle Brugge, he said: “I don’t think so.
“It’s something he’s obviously not used to especially in the last two seasons where he’s been constantly scoring goals. But the last couple of weeks his performances have been really good in terms of working the whole backline. I’ve played with him before. I know what Lawrence is capable of. I know he will dust himself down and keep going. If he keeps getting into positions it will turn. The last thing you can do is let your head go down and there’s been no signs of that with Lawrence.”
Hearts head to Belgium with a handy tally of six points from their opening three Conference League games. They sit 12th in the table but level on points with Fiorentina in eighth – with the top eight qualifying automatically for the knockout stages.
A win in the Jan Breydel Stadium tomorrow night would likely be enough to clinch a playoff spot at least and with two games to spare. Cercle sit third bottom of the Belgian top flight. But Hearts are no better in 11th position in the Premiership. And Spittal knows, if they are to stand any chance tomorrow night, Shankland and co must sharpen up in front of goal.
Saturday’s 4-1 defeat to Celtic was the latest in a series of strong performances ruined by missed opportunities. Spittal himself passed up a gilt-edged chance inside the first two minutes.
He said: “You don’t want to be coming away from games saying we played well in parts but not getting anything from it. In the first half against Celtic we created numerous opportunities and a couple of really good ones. The one for myself in the first minutes just bounced up awkwardly. But when you are playing quality sides like Celtic you have to be taking your chances or else you leave yourself susceptible.
“It is frustrating. We need to keep getting into those positions and it’ll turn. We are coming away from games knowing we are creating chances, it’s just that we’re not taking enough at the minute. But if we keep getting into those positions it’ll turn for us.”
Spittal’s only previous European experience came to an abrupt and embarrassing halt with Motherwell as they were dumped out by Sligo Rovers two years ago. So it’s no surprise the 28-year-old is savouring every moment of Hearts’ Conference League journey.
He said: “It’s been good. We started the group with two good results then I wouldn’t say the last one was bad, the performance was there, but there were two moments where Heidenheim punished us.
“As a player you dream of playing in Europe and testing yourself against the best. I’ve not had that many opportunities to do that so it’s important we savour it. I had a short lived experience in Europe with Motherwell. That was unfortunate the way that panned out. I’m looking to make up for it this time round.
“Hopefully we can catch Cercle Brugge by surprise and get a good result.”