Exclusive:Lawrence Shankland's Hearts anger as he discusses emotions and the bigger issue

There are moments when Lawrence Shankland’s jovial facade drops. The tension of this Scottish Premiership title race impacts everyone involved and the Hearts captain is no different. Normally a cheery and cheeky chappy, he was visibly angry in the dying moments of Sunday’s draw at Livingston. Three points was the aim, getting one left him exasperated, and he berated team-mates following Marc Leonard’s late red card.

It is important to stress there is no malice involved. Shankland is the skipper striving to demand more and drive standards based on professional pride. The score was 2-2 when Hearts took time trying to deliver a cross in the final minutes. They then conceded possession to Livingston’s Robbie Muirhead, who set off for goal and was hauled down by Leonard near the halfway line. A VAR touchline review concluded the on-loan Tynecastle midfielder denied Muirhead an obvious goalscoring opportunity, and he was dismissed.

Shankland explained his reaction and why he shouted at team-mates. “We lost a man at the end. I felt we had a couple of opportunities to put the ball in the box,” he said, speaking exclusively to the Edinburgh News. “We play a risky pass and I felt we ran ourselves down a cul-de-sac, which led to Marc having to foul the guy. I just felt the ball could have gone into the box. That was probably just a build-up of frustration at the whole situation. I can be quite like that. The boys know that. There are no hard feelings. We move on.

“I just felt that we have good players and we need to be a bit braver in those situations. I know it’s difficult out there. When you get towards the end of a game and things aren’t going as well as you want, it does get difficult mentally. That’s when you need to step up. I thought we could have put the ball forward quicker. In the grand scheme of things, it’s not that big a problem.”

He is correct: The title challenge is considerably more important. Hearts remain top of the league and a point ahead of second-placed Rangers despite the 2-2 draw in West Lothian. Shankland returned to the starting line-up after injury and again justified his talisman status with a goal and an assist. His presence and intelligence help the Tynecastle side function in a way no other player can. His influence is unique.

He knows the chance to make history is near, which only magnified the exasperation against Livingston. “We had the objective of getting three points. We got ourselves into a sticky situation at the start, lost a poor goal, but did well to get back in the game and get an equaliser,” stated Shankland. “I felt we controlled large parts of it but Livingston were still a threat on the counter-attack.

“At half-time, I was pretty pleased with where we got to. We started the second half well and managed to get the goal to go ahead. Then, from our point of view, the goal we concede is just mental, isn’t it? It’s just mad decision-making from all of us as a team. We looked like we would be in control of the game from that point and I thought it could be how many we could score if we could control it, but again we put ourselves in a sticky situation by losing a poor goal.

“From there, you start to see us getting a wee bit desperate to get the win. To be honest, come the last five or 10 minutes, it was more important we didn’t lose the game. We looked like we could have lost all the points. It’s not ideal and it’s not what we went there for, but sometimes you need to take one and be disappointed. We will look to improve this week and get another win.”

When asked to put his finger on why Hearts could not gain ultimate control, Shankland offered a reasoned response. “Obviously, [Joel] Nouble is 15ft and difficult to deal with,” he smirked. “His general presence can spook through the team a bit because of the sheer size of the guy. He can play as well so it’s hard to defend against that at times.

“After the nervy moments in the first half, I thought we were pretty good and dealt with the threat pretty well. It’s just a couple of moments where we play a slack pass or make a bad decision, which causes so much nervousness around the whole situation. Maybe we could just have been a bit simpler. We didn’t get the points we wanted but we are still back on top of the league.”

Some Hearts fans jeered their team at full-time for failing to win away at the league’s bottom club. However, sitting top in April is a situation every Tynecastle supporter would have gladly accepted last summer. Shankland admitted emotions are running high, not only in Gorgie but also in Glasgow as Rangers and Celtic battle Hearts for the league title.

“Of course you would have taken this position at the start, but obviously the situation changes and you get different feelings,” said the striker. “Everything is really emotional around the club and the league just now with all the teams being involved. We had the objective of getting three points at Livingston. We got one. Could it be a good one? We’ll find out at the end of the season.

“I’m pleased to get back in the starting line-up and pleased to get a goal and an assist. My game wasn’t too far from where it could be and the gap to get there looks fairly closeable. I want to get fully firing for the last six games of the season. I put in some hard work with the rehab and I’m pleased with where I am. Hopefully, the fitness will improve with more games.”

Leonard’s pinpoint cross enabled Shankland to head home a powerful Hearts equaliser in the first half. “It’s a great ball. It’s all in the cross, really. I just needed to direct it on target and it’s beats the goalie. Braga did really well to get across the defender after I put my header into that area. At that moment, I was really confident we would go and see the game out but it wasn’t to be.”