Hearts star Aaron Hickey misses out on award to Premiership rival

Hearts defender Aaron Hickey has missed out on the Scottish Football Writers’ Association Young Player of the Year award.

The 17-year-old was one of four Premiership stars nominated, alongside St Johnstone’s Ali McCann, Lewis Ferguson of Aberdeen and Motherwell’s Allan Campbell.

It was Ferguson who landed the accolade following another positive season at Pittodrie, becoming the first Dons player to win the award.

Aaron Hickey was one of four players shortlisted for the award. Picture: SNS

The 20-year-old’s influence in the Aberdeen team came to greater prominence in the latter half of the campaign.

“It is a real honour for me,” he told Aberdeen’s official website. I am delighted.

“I would like to first of all congratulate the other boys on their nominations. They have had great seasons.

“The other nominees had great seasons with their clubs. They deserved to be nominated. I was delighted just to be nominated but to win it is special.”

Aberdeen ace Lewis Ferguson won the award. Picture: SNS

Hickey picked up from where he left in the 2019 Scottish Cup final, becoming one of Hearts’ key players throughout the season despite his age. Only Michael Smith, Craig Halkett and Sean Clare played more minutes.

He won praise from both Craig Levein and Daniel Stendel for his maturity and bravery, while he was fielded at left-back, centre-back, right-back and wing-back.

A number of Europe’s elite clubs, including Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Manchester City, have been linked with a move for the defender who has just one year left on his contract.

Sky Sports pundit Andy Walker believes he can follow in the footsteps of Kieran Tierney and Andy Robertson to star in the Premier League.

He said: “As a left-back, I was immediately struck by how comfortable he was when cutting infield and drilling a cross-field pass to a team-mate with this right foot. The following week, manager Craig Levein had enough faith in him to give him a starting slot against Celtic in the cauldron of a national cup final. Again, he showed he could handle a big occasion.