Hearts make decision on Montrose loanee Harry Cochrane's future

Harry Cochrane is currently on loan at Montrose from Hearts.

He was due back at Riccarton this month, but will stay on loan at Links Park for the rest of the season before rejoining his parent club to challenge for a first-team place.

Hearts and Montrose are in the process of extending their agreement to ensure the player remains in League One until the end of the current campaign. Hearts intend to give him an opportunity next term, provided he agrees to sign a new contract.

Cochrane, 19, has made ten appearances for Montrose to date and helped them climb to third in the league table. His immediate future lies in Angus but the Hearts manager Robbie Neilson believes he still carries the potential to establish himself at Tynecastle Park.

Cochrane’s contract expires at the end of the season. Riccarton coaching staff hope he will sign a new deal and join them for pre-season training.

“Harry is going to stay out at Montrose. They’ve been delighted with him and the boy is enjoying playing first-team football, which is great,” Neilson told the Evening News.

“They’re doing well in the league so he is going to stay there until the summer. That will give him even more game time. Hopefully he’ll get another 15 or 20 matches there, which would be great for him.

“We felt he needed to play football. With the age he’s at, he still needs to develop. We’ve all spoken about him needing to bulk up and fill out a wee bit.

“For us, the main thing was making sure he got game time. That’s why we loaned him out a couple of months ago and he’s done really well at Montrose.

“He will come back in the summer. Hopefully he has progressed again, then he can come in for pre-season and try to get himself into the team.”

After breaking into the Hearts first-team at the age of 16, Cochrane signed a new three-year deal in April 2018. He then flitted in and out of the side and spent time on loan at Dunfermline between August 2019 and January 2020.

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