Hearts player changes position at loan club as one thing clear about Premiership star amid Hibs speculation

Dundee manager Tony Docherty will not want to lose Luke McCowan. | SNS Group

Hearts and Hibs were both eliminated from the Premier Sports Cup at the last 16 stage this weekend.

Hibs suffered a 3-1 defeat away to Scottish champions Celtic after a double from Daizen Maeda and January signing Nicolas Kuhn. David Gray’s side were second best but a Mykola Kuhavevich diving header in the first half gave the travelling contingent something to smile about.

Hearts had less to smile about on their trip to Championship newcomers Falkirk as they suffered a 2-0 defeat. The Premiership side missed a glut of chances early in the half and were unable to get off the mark. Goals from Falkirk pair Ethan Ross and Dylan Tait’s secured the home side the victory in the second half.

Both clubs will be keen to bounce back from this setback when they return to Premiership action this weekend, but the Jambos have a Europa League play-off first leg with Viktoria Plzen to contend with first. Ahead of a crucial week of football we take a look at the main headlines surrounding both Edinburgh giants.

 Lewis Neilson comments on positional change

Hearts youngster Lewis Neilson was also eliminated from the cup over the weekend. The 21-year-old on loan at St Johnstone played the full 90 minutes during his side’s 2-0 away defeat to Rangers and was played in the central midfield role as opposed to his typical centre back position.

Commenting on the change, Neilson told the club website: "It was wee bit tougher than centre-back, a lot more running! I am just happy to be on the pitch so wherever I am playing, I'm happy. 

“I thought we were good in spells. It was always going to be tough, Rangers away on a big pitch like Hampden. I think we defended really well. There's some positives to take but we're out the cup, so not great. “

St Johnstone return to action with a trip to Dundee United and will be targeting back-to-back Premiership wins after a commanding 3-0 victory away to Kilmarnock last time out in the league.

‘We need to hold on’ - Lyall Cameron says Luke McCowan is committed to Dundee

Lyall Cameron claims his teammate Luke McCowan is committed to Dundee despite speculation linking him with numerous big clubs, including Hibs and Celtic.

Dundee recorded a 6-1 victory against Airdrie to progress to the quarter-final and goalscorer Cameron said after the game that McCowan has not lost focus: "No sign of that at all, Luke was good against Airdrie. There's no one in the team that thinks they shouldn't be here.

"We are all enjoying playing for the team because we are putting in performances. It would be really good, we've got a strong team and small squad so we need to hold on to Luke and he's a big part of our squad."