Hearts accept offer for English full-back

A bid for Alex Cochrane has been accepted by Hearts.

The 24-year-old, who joined Hearts initially on loan from Brighton and Hove Albion in 2021, returned in a permanent transfer the following year and became the established left-back in Gorgie. However, following the arrival of James Penrice from Livingston, Naismith is ready to let the Englishman return south of the border.

Cochrane did spend last week with the rest of the first-team squad at a training camp in Tenerife and was present as Hearts went down 2-1 to English League One outfit Leyton Orient in Gorgie this afternoon in their first of four pre-season fixtures.

However, Naismith confirmed after the match that he expects a deal, believed to be worth more than £1million, to go through in the next few days.

The head coach said: "The club have accepted a bid and that is something that will probably move quite quickly in the next three, four days.

"For us as a club it’s an example of finding a talent, who is a good player but also has a drive to go as high as he can and maximise what he can do and over the last three or four years he has worked really hard at that.

"He has got a year left on his contract and it’s a good deal for the club, one that Alex wants to take and everybody comes out of it well in terms of, we have progressed a player, we’ve made a profit on him and he is moving to a club that is a big club and one he wants to be at.

"It’s just the business side of football, that is the way it’s got to be. Under certain circumstances you need to weigh up what the benefit is to the club. You need to identify players to bring to the club and sell them on and that is a good business model. Something the club have not done well enough over the years."

On the clash against London-based Orient, where Hearts took the lead through Liam Boyce, Naismith added: "It was a good test. I said before the game that they would cause us some problems just with the way they play, which was good. You can tell that sharpness is the next part of pre-season.

"It's not there - both teams could have scored more goals. It was good for everybody to get minutes. For a player it's hard because your brain is working quicker than your feet sometimes. It's a good start for us. It gives everyone an understanding of where they need to get to."