SPFL loan at Raith Rovers helped the Riccarton kid develop

Hearts midfielder Finlay Pollock is doubtful whether he will be ready for new manager Derek McInnes’ first pre-season programme. The 20-year-old suffered a season-ending hamstring injury on loan at Raith Rovers in April and underwent surgery. He is now in a race against time to be fit for pre-season training.

McInnes was appointed by Hearts last week and is currently assessing and reshaping the first-team squad. Pollock is eager to prove himself to the new head coach when players report to Riccarton in the middle of next month, but he admitted he may need to wait a little longer.

“It’s touch and go whether I make pre-season,” he told the Hearts website. “Hopefully I can make sort of mid-July or the end of July. That’s the aim, if all goes well, to try and get back for then. I’ll need to make sure I’m right before I come back.”

Six goals in 25 Raith appearances amounted to a productive loan spell for Pollock in the Scottish Championship. He was moved from midfield to attack by Raith and is grateful to the club’s assistant manager, Colin Cameron, for helping him develop. Cameron is an iconic Hearts figure who won the 1998 Scottish Cup with the club.

SPFL Championship move helped by Hearts Scottish Cup winner

“Obviously he is a bit of a legend here [at Hearts],” acknowledged Pollock. “My whole family know that and my dad reminds me how lucky I was to be with him each day. But he taught me on the pitch as well. Even if it was after training when we’d go out for second sessions. He just showed me where to be, different positions to keep and to hold and when to run, when to stay, when to come short, when to go long – all these different things. That just helped me on the pitch and it just improved me as a whole.”

Pollock adjusted quickly to life as a striker after Raith shunted him forward from midfield last autumn. “They [Raith] definitely saw my pace,” he said. “That’s one of my strengths and they saw that I could probably outrun centre-backs in the league, fairly comfortably. They always wanted me to stretch the game. They really wanted me to try and utilise my pace as much as possible against these defenders.

“[Cameron] let the rest of the team know that as well. That was sort of the main message for me to do that – and I got a lot of goals out of doing that as well. I learned a lot. The Championship was very tight, it was very competitive, very physical. So, you’ve got to adapt when you’re on the pitch and use different parts of your body to protect the ball and keep the ball. And learn when to go forward, when to come short, all different aspects like that. Just getting a run at games like that helps you to learn and understand.”