Exclusive:Hearts' plan for Finlay Pollock as the club explain the midfielder's situation
New SPFL season brings hope after youngster’s loan move in 2024/25
Finlay Pollock today received reassurance that he is in Hearts’ plans this season as he recovers from hamstring surgery. Head coach Derek McInnes explained the midfielder’s situation to the Edinburgh News after watching him on loan at Raith Rovers last season.
Pollock is one of the most promising youngsters to emerge from the Riccarton youth academy in recent years but persistent injury problems prevented him establishing a first-team place. He was loaned to East Fife in 2022 and spent all of last season on loan in Kirkcaldy, playing 25 times and scoring six goals.
His campaign ended prematurely in April when a hamstring tear required an operation and he returned to Hearts, where he signed a contract extension until 2027. The 21-year-old is now working on fitness as he aims to join first-team training sessions under McInnes.
Hearts intend to keep him with the senior squad this season as McInnes admitted he liked what he saw of the player last term. “Finlay has still to tick a lot of boxes with the medical team. He is still about two to three weeks away from joining in with me,” explained the head coach.
“He hasn't trained with us yet, he's still with the medical team. He has still to do his high-speed running, his maximum output running. This week is a big week for him in terms of getting through that. Once he can tick that box this week, I think maybe he's about 10 days away from starting to get slowly integrated with us through training.
“For full training, I still think he's two to three weeks away. Obviously, I watched a bit of Raith last season and I enjoyed watching Finlay. We'll look to try and have him as part of the squad. That's the intention.”
Premier Sports Cup and SPFL Premiership games on the horizon
Hearts are preparing for their final Premier Sports Cup Group E tie against League Two Dumbarton at Tynecastle Park on Wednesday evening. McInnes will again look to utilise his squad and give game time to some players who were not involved in Saturday’s 4-0 win at Stirling Albion. A win over Dumbarton would complete a 100 per cent record and earn Hearts a seeding for the knockout round.
McInnes explained the value of winning as the new Premiership season looms with an opening game against Aberdeen at Tynecastle on Monday, 4 August. “I think building momentum is important,” he said. “People say to me: ‘Oh, that first game proper against Aberdeen.’ These are proper games in the League Cup and we're trying to demonstrate that. The only downside about the League Cup games coming quickly is the fact that you can't play two and three friendly games a week and utilise the full squad. This is the biggest squad I've ever had to work with.
“Normally, when you're playing pre-season games, you can get 11 on and 11 off, or you can arrange another game the next day and you've got a totally different team to play 90 minutes. When the League Cup comes you can't be too frivolous with it all or underplay it. You've got to be ready and you've just got to sometimes make sure you pick out a strong team.”