James Penrice's hostile quip and Lawrence Shankland's gratitude as Hearts head to Copenhagen - exclusive

It was inevitable that James Penrice’s relentless stream of cross balls would eventually bear fruit for Hearts. So it proved on Saturday. The left-back is partial to a rampage up the flank, often finished with a cute delivery into the opposition penalty area. Lawrence Shankland profited twice from Penrice’s attacking adventures to score both goals against Dundee, allowing the defender the satisfaction of two assists.

Penrice has been arguably Hearts’ most consistent player since arriving from Livingston during the summer. He is already popular with supporters because of that forward-thinking attitude. A number of crosses in previous games went unconverted, so the weekend was a pleasing outcome as Shankland ended a 12-game run without scoring.

“Actually, I'm probably also a bit disappointed,” admits Penrice, speaking exclusively to the Edinburgh News. “I probably should have had more because we had a couple of other crosses as well. But I'm just happy that Shanks gets his couple of goals and that's more important than the win. It's not about the assists or that. I'm buzzing for the man.”

As captain, Shankland was quick to thank his supplier. “He did. He said: ‘Finally,’ when I ran over to him,” confirms Penrice. “He said a couple of times that he could have been putting away my crosses, but he deserved it on Saturday. He has worked really hard on it, I know that. He's known for his goals and he’s a link-up player, he's been brilliant for the full season. Although he hadn't scored goals, he was still really effective.

“Probably the only thing is maybe the second half against Dundee. Don't let them come back into the game. We had a couple of chances, a couple of crosses. I thought we defended the ball really well. But yeah, go and get more goals. That's probably what we could have taken from it.”

One of Penrice’s frustrations this season is rarely being able to speak to media after the sweet taste of victory. Previous interviews came following defeats, of which there have been too many. Beating Dundee created an opportunity he didn’t want to miss. “I just think it's always better speaking when you've got more to say - when you've won the game and you're not as annoyed and you don't say something that you didn't mean,” he laughs. “But, aye, it's definitely more enjoyable.”

There isn’t much time to bask in glory as attention turns to Hearts’ UEFA Conference League tie against FC Copenhagen. An away game against one of the competition’s Pot 1 sides represents probably the most difficult European match of the campaign so far. Thursday inside Parken Stadium will be loud and hostile, but Penrice isn’t flustered. "It's Scotland we play in, every part is hostile. They've got nothing new to us, so it'll be good to experience it,” he says.

“It's maybe a wee bit different for Celtic and Rangers, but I was definitely buzzing when we got Copenhagen in the draw. We're going to get points on the board. There's no hiding away from it that it will be tough, but we'll go over the gameplan and we're going to try and get through to the next round. We've got two games to do that, and that'll be the aim - to go and progress in this competition.

“European football is all pretty new for me. All those boys in the dressing room have played in these competitions every year they've been at Hearts. It's new for me but I just go into the games with excitement. And I said it before, you'll have no problem getting up for these games. There's a certain buzz when you go and hear that song at the start of the game, the adrenaline drags you through it. I think we need to take things from the last away game at Cercle Bruges and go and get points on the board.”

Failure to do so would increase pressure on Hearts ahead of the final Conference League match on Thursday week when the Moldovan club Petrocub visit Edinburgh. One point may be enough for progress to February’s knockout play-off round, three certainly will, and no-one wants to leave it all until the last match.

“No, definitely not,” says Penrice. “It'll help if we get something in Copenhagen, absolutely. If we've already qualified, coming back to Tynecastle under the lights, it'll be brilliant. It will be a very tough game on Thursday but that's why we're in this competition. We're going to play against very good teams and we will go there with our plan.”