Exclusive:Hearts midfielder Finlay Pollock takes a huge step forward as he nears a comeback after 18 months out
Wouter Vrancken explained the Riccarton academy graduate’s situation
Nearly 18 months have passed since Finlay Pollock last played competitive football. The midfielder is now 22 and still striving to rebuild his career following unrelenting injury problems. After a broken foot, patellar tendon issues, hamstring surgery and various setbacks - the most recent being this summer in Spain - Pollock is finally nearing a comeback. It is a sight to behold for a Riccarton youth academy graduate with the potential to become a first-team mainstay.
First things first, however. Pollock is in no position to get carried away. Hearts coaching staff have learned to be similarly cautious and protective, but were understandably elated when he rejoined training a few days ago. Injuries subsided, fingers crossed it stays that way and the player remains healthy. He may get some game time when the first team play a closed-door friendly during the international break. Simply resuming full training is a huge step towards a long-awaited return.
“Everything is going well with him,” Vrancken told the Edinburgh News. “It’s what we wanted during his build-up. He is training with the group at the moment. He does everything with the group so this is no problem. We discussed it before already that, outside the training sessions, we have to have an individual programme for him. When you have some [injury] history, I think it's modern football also that you cannot treat everybody the same and let them do the same things. I think individualising is very important these days, because everybody has some weaknesses or some strengths within his body.
“You have to go with this and you have to be aware of those things, so that you can work on your weaknesses and your strengths. So knowing and being aware of where the players are is very important. Especially, of course, when you have an injury background, I think you have to be more aware of what you do outside the pitch so that, when you're on the pitch, you don't think about it and you can go full.
“I think the build-up is going really well with Finlay and let's hope he can make the steps. We will see day-by-day, week-by-week, what we can do with him. He has been in full training for about a week or a week and a half. Sometimes it’s adapted and we see what we do, depending on what we want to do and the numbers we need. We can give him more or less of what he needs individually.”
Pollock’s horrible injury luck is underlined by the fact he made his senior Hearts debut in April 2021 but has managed just eight appearances for the club to date. Mentally, simply being back in amongst team-mates full-time will act like a tonic on the young midfielder. “Yeah, you notice, actually. You see that he is happy in training and that he has a good vibe in training,” said Vrancken.
“He has a positive vibe, because when you're out so long - I think it was from Spain? Yes, he was out in Spain for pre-season - so when you're out so long and you come back, you have to enjoy the game again. You see him enjoying the game when he’s on the pitch. This is the most important thing for now, and then it’s making steps towards the level he can reach.”
When he is ready for competitive action, Hearts will consider the option of loaning Pollock out. The club currently have co-operation agreements in place with Scottish Championship side Stenhousemuir, East Fife in League One and Edinburgh City in League Two, plus Bonnyrigg Rose in the Lowland League. It would be wise to test Pollock’s durability in a lower division first before propelling him into Premiership or European fixtures.
“Yeah, we have to see how he's doing, how he is in competition with the other guys, of course. Then we will see how he thinks. We can discuss it,” said Vrancken. “His mindset in this moment is also the most important, I think, to discuss these things. Right now, the focus is not there yet to do those things. I think the focus is now on reaching the highest level he can on the sessions and trying to be competitive with the guys who are here now. Then we can look at his situation.”
All being well, we should see Pollock back playing football again well before the end of the year. “Yes, let's hope,” agreed Vrancken. “We will discuss how he feels during the international break and if he can take minutes already in the friendly we play before the restart. It will be depending on the situation then and the reactions on the sessions. We will go step-by-step, and then it's also depending on his level - if he is competitive for a selection or not yet.”