John Robertson provides Hearts verdict on Lawrence Shankland and the 'magical' chance striker still has

John Robertson says Lawrence Shankland can look to Rory McIlroy for inspiration when it comes to his tough Hearts spell.

The Jambos icon has been watching on amid a tough season in front of goal for the senior club figure, who had enjoyed prolific seasons in maroon prior to this campaign. With 63 goals to his name for Hearts overall, he has hit the net just four times this season, although he has played in a number 10 role under Neil Critchley.

On the bench for the last two games as Hearts missed out on the Premiership’s top six, a Scottish Cup semi final awaits this weekend against Aberdeen. Robertson believes Shankland has the minerals to create a moment to remember.

Hearts icon’s Shankland verdict

He said: “Every weekend's a good chance for Lawrence. And you look at his numbers for the last two seasons, they're frightening. Absolutely frightening. And some of the goals he's scored, the quality of the goals he's scored, were sensational. This year's not. Listen, I've been there, I've had seasons where it's been single-figure goals. Sometimes it just, everything you try doesn't come off, and that's where he is. People say he's not trying, but he is definitely trying. Lawrence Shankland's a top professional, and he's desperate to score.

"You saw the difference between this season and last season in injury time on Saturday. He's gone through, he's had a good strike, it's gone a foot past the post. Last year he was in. It's as simple and straightforward as that. He goes in, doesn't go in this year. If luck's with Lawrence, if he's a foot closer, hits the post and runs out to Alan Forrest for a tap-in, it doesn't. Lawrence's frustration seems to sum up the team's frustrations. He's been so close so many times, with so many big games, it's just not happened. But you can go from zero to hero very, very quickly, and hero to zero very, very quickly in football, especially as a striker.

"It's the hardest position in the game. You play 90% of the match when you're back to goal against defenders who are facing the ball all the time. And, you know, Lawrence's reputation is such that, you know, they expect him to score. Because of his last two seasons, they expect him to score every touch. It's one of these things that doesn't happen, but I've met him a couple of times. He's a very confident young man that comes across as a guy who wants to do well.

"He wants to do well, and he'll be trying his hardest. As he does every week, he'll be trying his hardest on Saturday. And, you know, this may be, you know, a chance for, not redemption, he doesn't need redemption, but it would be fantastic for him and for the players, for him to produce that magical moment that takes heart to a cup final. As I said before, once you get back to Hamden in May, anything can happen.”

Masters factor

Robertson was asked if he was surprised to see Shankland on the Hearts bench. Just like McIlroy breaking his major golfing duck over the weekend by winning The Masters, the same can also be said for the life of a striker.

The iconic Hearts forward added: "Yes and no. I mean, you can understand it. I've been there. When you're a striker, there's times where the manager will play you, and you'll go out there thinking, you know what, I'm not sure I'm going to score today. 99 times out of 100, you'll go on to the pitch thinking, I'm going to score, I'm going to score, I'm going to score.

"When you're scoring, you don't believe you're going to miss. And you can't wait for the next game, the next game, the next game. When you go through that little spell, little dry spell, you start to doubt yourself a wee bit. There's no doubt about it. Listen, we saw it last night with Rory McIlroy. He started to doubt himself, but then he shrugged it off and came again. And that's the same with a striker, and sometimes it just takes a miss hit. It goes in, or something deflects in, or something makes a mistake, leaves you with a golden opportunity. And that's what we're all hoping for."

“John Robertson was promoting Premier Sports’ live and exclusive coverage of Hearts v Aberdeen on Saturday from 12pm on Premier Sports 1. Watch Premier Sports via your TV provider on Sky, Virgin TV, STV Player and Amazon Prime as an add-on subscription, and on the Premier Sports’ streaming platform.”