Gary Mackay: There are big decisions facing Hearts over loaning out players

Andy Irving has played his way into the Hearts first-team squad. Pic: SNS

Loaning players out can be a key part of a young player’s development these days and there is such a vast squad at Riccarton that you would have to expect a number of them will go on loan.

You are trying to mix the likes of Aaron Hickey and Andy Irving in with the more senior professionals, whilst letting some of the others who are on the fringes of the squad move out to get experience.

It will be interesting to see who stays and who is farmed out. Irving and Hickey are the two you would say are no-brainers for staying with the first-team group. There are still to be decisions made on the others because keeping people around who are not going to play competitive matches doesn’t really make sense.

I would expect it will be mostly younger ones who go on loan, and hopefully that can enhance their development, be it for six months or a year.

Signing a new keeper means there are three in the squad, but I thought Joel Pereira looked the part on his debut at Motherwell.

At the end of last season we were made aware that goalkeeping was a position we weren’t going to strengthen, but now we have a new keeper in and Zdenek Zlamal has made way for now at least.

Nobody is on the books at Manchester United for now reason, so Pereira clearly has quality and should be able to help as the season goes on. We also have Glenn Whelan and Loic Damour, so that strengthens the midfield considerably.

People had been saying Hearts were light in the middle of the park not so long ago but now it seems we have vast midfield alternatives, even allowing for the unfortunate injury to Jamie Walker.

People who are on the periphery must stay focused, even if they think they shouldn’t be on the periphery. They will all get opportunities but I suspect a fair number of them will need to show a great deal of patience in the meantime.