Hearts and Motherwell dominate Scotland's Player of the Year nominations as Celtic and Rangers miss out

Two Hearts players and two from Motherwell have been nominated for this season’s PFA Scotland Player of the Year award. With both clubs enjoying hugely impressive campaigns, players across the country voted for Lawrence Shankland and Claudio Braga from Tynecastle Park, plus Tawanda Maswanhise and Elijah Just from Fir Park.

For the first time, there are no nominees from Celtic or Rangers ahead of the awards night this Sunday, 3 May. Hearts have led the Premiership table for most of the season under head coach Derek McInnes and are three points clear with four fixtures remaining after beating Hibs on Sunday. They are aiming to win their first top-flight Scottish title since 1960. Motherwell have gained widespread plaudits for their brand of football under Danish coach Jens Berthel Askou and are currently challenging for Europe in fourth place.

Maswanhise is currently the Premiership’s top scorer with 17 goals and two assists from 30 league appearances. His pace and scoring form are a central reason for Motherwell’s progress this year. Braga’s first season in Scotland is already an unqualified success after 14 goals and five assists from 33 Premiership outings for the Portuguese forward.

Shankland, the Hearts captain, is one goal behind on 13 league strikes and four assists in 24 league games. New Zealand internationalist Just is sitting on seven goals and eight assists after 30 Premiership appearances having been instrumental all season for Motherwell.

All four were named in the Premiership Team of the Year last week alongside Craig Halkett and Harry Milne from Hearts, plus Calum Ward, Paul McGinn and Elliot Watt of Motherwell. One of the quartet will now be crowned Scotland’s Player of the Year this weekend. The SPFL Young Player of the Year award will be contested by Falkirk’s Barney Stewart, Findlay Marshall of Arbroath, Dundee’s Luke Graham and Mikey Moore of Rangers.

In an extra boost for Hearts, forward Georgia Timms is nominated for PFA Scotland Women’s Player of the Year. She has enjoyed an outstanding season in Edinburgh and been a central figure in her club’s title challenge under coach Eva Olid.The other SWPL 1 nominees are Rangers’ Katie Wilkinson and the Glasgow City pair Lee Gibson and Nicole Kozlova. The SWPL 1 Young Player of the Year nominees are Laura Berry and May Cruft from Rangers, plus Lisa Forrest of Glasgow City and Rosie Livingstone from Hibs.

PFA Scotland announced nominees for lower division Player of the Year awards last week. In the Championship, Dunfermline’s Andrew Tod, Partick Thistle’s Ben Stanway, plus the St Johnstone pair Jamie Gullan and Josh McPake are the four contenders. The League One nominees are Alfie Stewart of Inverness CT, Kieran Shanks from Peterhead, Hamilton’s Oli Shaw and Ross Taylor of Stenhousemuir. The League Two contenders are East Kilbride’s John Robertson, Lewis Reid from Stranraer, Spartans’ Mark Stowe and Wullie Gibson of Annan Athletic.

There is huge interest in the awards as fans of all clubs wait to see who ultimately wins in each category. Hearts will hold their own Player of the Year dinner the same night as PFA Scotland, but players will only be present at the start of the evening before leaving to rest up ahead of a vital Premiership match against Rangers 24 hours later. Sunday’s dramatic 2-1 win over Hibs at Easter Road in the Edinburgh derby moved the Tynecastle side three points clear at the top of the league with four games remaining.