Hearts offer James Wilson support after his red card against Dundee United

Several senior Hearts players and officials will seek to protect teenager James Wilson following his red card against Dundee United. The striker experienced the first dismissal of his career for a late tackle on United midfielder Luca Stephenson during Sunday’s match at Tynecastle, and looked dejected trudging off the pitch.

Coaching staff and team-mates are rallying round Wilson to offer support, with goalkeeper Craig Gordon outlining why the youngster should not become overly despondent. “That's going to happen. He was eager to try and win the ball back. I thought on the pitch he was a bit unlucky. He was trying to retrieve the ball,” said Gordon. “It didn't look or feel particularly out of control or too quick. The speed didn't feel that quick on the pitch.

“I've not seen it back. I don't know how it looked. I don't know how the still image looked so I'm not saying it was or it wasn't [a red card], but on the pitch it felt unlucky as a player. These types of challenges are under the microscope at the moment, so we have to deal with that. I thought we did deal with it. We still created chances. We still could have won the game. There's no reason why when you go down to 10 men, you still can't win a game of football. We still restricted United to very few chances. We looked dangerous on the break, although not as dangerous as we were in the first part of the game.”

Gordon backed Wilson to cope with the scrutiny and overcome the setback, stressing that the challenge carried no malice despite referee Nick Walsh issuing a straight red card for serious foul play. “No, I don't think so. He never does [carry malice]. He's just trying to do as well as he can, trying to win the ball back. He's just a young player trying to progress in the game and try to do it as well as he possibly can. So no, I don't think there's too much you can say to him.

“I'm sure, looking back, he maybe wishes he hadn't gone in for the challenge and just left it. But he's trying to win the ball back for the team and do the job for the team. This time it's resulted in him getting a red card. It's the first time he's been red-carded. It's something he'll have to deal with and come back stronger. From what I've seen from him, training here, around the dressing room, away with the national team, I know he can deal with that and come back stronger. I'm sure he'll still have a big part to play for the rest of the season.

“That's football and that will happen to every player. Every young player coming through is going to have a setback, whether it's a red card, a loss of form, missing a big chance as a striker or as a defender making an error that costs a goal. These are things that are going to happen to every single player. This is the first little setback, it is just a little one for him. The trajectory of his career I still think is going to go from strength to strength. I have no problem that he will deal with it absolutely fine and come back.”

Historic Falkirk red card recalled as Gordon points out Wilson’s development at Tynecastle

Gordon remembers needing the occasional arm around his shoulder as a young keeper, and also recalled his first sending off. “I do remember my first red card was away to Falkirk [in 2005] in my 99th game in a row for Hearts. I didn't manage to make 100 appearances in a row because I got sent off at Falkirk and the team dug me out of a hole. We got a 2-2 draw and kept the unbeaten run going. That is part of football and James will have all the support he needs from everyone. We think a lot of him here, everybody, the staff, the players. He will be fine, he will have a lot of support and we will get him back out on that pitch soon.”

Wilson became the youngest Scotland international footballer in history last month when he played against Greece at Hampden Park. It was a huge step in the development process of a player who is continually maturing. “Yes, he has improved so much over the year. Since pre-season, you probably wouldn't have expected him to have as many appearances as he has. He has scored vital goals for us as well. We have not scored a barrel load of goals this season, apart from up at Dundee. We have not been prolific.

“Those goals have been vital. We have needed him to come in and make big contributions and he has done. He has still had a tremendous season, a breakout season and it is not finished for him. He will be back soon and I am sure there is still a big say for him to have in the final few games.

“He actually always has been maturing. He is polite around the place but he also has confidence. He will speak up and you need that for a striker, especially a striker. You are going to miss chances. You are going to be the one that is going to take the team on your back at times. He has got a great temperament. Absolutely, no worries about him whatsoever.”

The 1-0 defeat by United leaves Hearts’ top-six ambitions on a knife-edge. They can secure a place in the Premiership’s top half by winning at Motherwell this weekend. Defeat leaves them in the bottom six, whilst a draw could see St Mirren jump ahead of them into sixth spot in the final round of pre-split fixtures.

“That's where we're at. We need to deal with it,” commented Gordon. “We need to go to Motherwell and win. Simple as that. Our form has been better in recent months. So yeah, we do feel as if we can go away from home and win matches. We'll prepare this week. We know what we have to do to go there and win the match.

“I thought we started the game really well on Sunday and looked like the dominant team. If we can take that into next week and take one or two of those chances, then I still feel that we're in a good place to go in and make the top six. It's down to us to go and win the game. If we're in the top six, we can start looking to see if we can reel in Dundee United above us. We wish we had got it done on Sunday. I am looking forward to trying to close the gap on those above us. That is the situation we are in now. We have to refocus and go into that game with the mindset that it is a bit of a one-off. We need to win.”

READ MORE: SFA rule on Wilson’s red card - and the games he will miss