How Hearts got Lawrence Shankland going again as striker rated among Scottish football goalscoring elite

Lawrence Shankland belongs in the same conversation as some of the elite Scottish Premiership goalscorers from the recent past, according to interim Hearts boss Steven Naismith.

The club’s leading goalscorer bagged a hat-trick last time out against Ross County to take his tally to 25 for the season as the Tynecastle ended a six-game losing run with an emphatic 6-1 victory.

It was a return to form for the 27-year-old, who had netted only twice since ending the club’s long wait for a 20-goal-a-season scorer against Hibs in January prior to the County win.

Naismith believes the solution was very simple. Like renowed Scottish football strikers who’ve come before him, get the ball to Shankland in the right areas and he’ll find the back of the net.

Lawrence Shankland with the match ball after scoring a hat-trick in Hearts' 6-1 win over Ross County. Picture: SNS

“It’s not what we’ve done with him it’s what we’ve done as a team,” said Naismith. “We’ve created more chances, more shots in the last game than we have for years. Against Hibs we didn’t create enough chances, Shanks had a half chance he created himself.

“When you think of Shanks, you then fall back into thinking about Leigh Griffiths, Kris Boyd, Scott McDonald, these guys that are natural finishers.

“A goal that springs to mind is the derby one when [Cammy] Devlin wins it in the corner and [Josh] Ginnelly has the shot, Shanks is actually behind Gino but his natural instinct is to run round, he is thinking about that second phase of that attack. Loads of attacking midfielders would have stood and watched it. That’s why he is a top finisher.”

Naismith also believes there’s been a major improvement in Shankland’s all-round game since the two played together for the Scotland national team back in 2019.

“From the first time I was in the Scotland squad to now, more so since he’s moved abroad, I would say he is an all-round forward, his link up play is much better – hence why he gets back in the national team,” said Naismith.

“On top of that I think the previous manager giving him the captaincy has played a big part, he’s a leader. He’s a good character, he understands when something serious needs to be said or when it’s a good moment to have a laugh.”

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