'My Dad was fuming.' Connor Smith's family ties and a unique Hearts European experience

Many 20-year-olds are working their nine-to-five, or stuck in a university lecture theatre, or job-seeking online from their bedroom. Connor Smith’s current occupation involves jetting all over Europe playing football. It doesn’t get much better at such a young age, as the Hearts midfielder acknowledges.

His opponents are far from incidentals, either. He has featured against every Group A team during Hearts’ Europa Conference League adventure and thrived on the experience. Last season he was running about at places like Montrose and Peterhead whilst on loan at Queen’s Park. Now it’s Fiorentina in the Stadio Artemio Franchi and, tonight, Istanbul Basaksehir in the Fatih Terim Stadium. Yep, it doesn’t get much better at such a young age.

Smith is sufficiently sensible to absorb every second for educational purposes as he tries to develop his career. Four years have passed since his senior Hearts debut and he is not yet an established first-team regular. It’s a situation he is desperate to change and this season’s progress suggests it is within his capabilities. Learning in amongst the group stages of a UEFA tournament certainly improves his chances.

Mounting injuries mean the Hearts manager Robbie Neilson is likely to utilise younger players like Smith, Finlay Pollock or Euan Henderson at some stage this evening. He selected Smith from the start for the first time on Sunday and was rewarded with a decent display in the 2-1 Premiership win at Ross County. The European stage is a different level altogether and the young midfielder simply can’t get enough of it. The only downside is it must end in the early hours of Friday morning when Hearts’ charter flight touches down in Edinburgh.

“I’m enjoying every minute of the European football,” said Smith, speaking exclusively to the Evening News. “I really wanted us to go through – I don’t want it to stop. After Thursday it’s finished so we need to make the most of this last game. I’m hoping to play and I think all the younger boys would be buzzing if they get on. All the boys are gutted because the games in the next round would be massive as well. We’re just disappointed we don’t get to play against those big clubs in the knockout stage, but that’s the way it is. We can focus on the league after Thursday.

“Obviously we have loads of injuries just now, so it’s a massive chance for me and the other younger boys. Even Hendo, he isn’t a young boy any more but he is waiting for a chance so this is massive for all of us. If we play, we need to take the opportunity and make sure we keep ourselves in the team.”

Being on the same pitch as players like Fiorentina’s Luka Jovic or Basaksehir’s Bertrand Traore would intimidate some, but Smith prefers to embrace the opportunity. Even in the technical area he is like a human sponge, desperate to glean tips and tricks from the finest opponents he has encountered to date. “The way they play is brilliant. They play different styles of football in different countries,” he said. “You need to watch how they play so, even when I’m on the bench, I’m watching. We do video analysis on them and you can tell they are really good sides. It’s good for us to go and play against better teams and show what we can do at that level of football.

“It’s hard to explain how you feel up against them. Players at Fiorentina are playing international football and playing in Serie A every week. They are obviously great players. I feel that, if you work hard, then your ability will come out. As long as you are working hard then everything is fine.” Rewind 12 months. How would he have reacted at Queen’s Park if told that, in a year’s time, he would be playing European ties? “I would have said: ‘No chance!’ I would have told you that just isn’t going to happen. I’m so glad the gaffer has put his faith in me and given me opportunities in Europe.”

Connor Smith is relishing his first-team opportunities with Hearts.

He gave him a domestic shot at the weekend, too, even if Smith’s father was told not to bother travelling to Dingwall. “It’s been tough. I’ve been on a few loans so I’ve been waiting patiently. I was buzzing to get a start. I’m glad he put me in up there. I only found out on the morning of the game. I didn’t have a clue and then he put my name up. My Dad was going to come to the game and I said: ‘Nah, there’s no point coming up. I don’t know if I’ll start.’ Then I told him I was starting and he was gutted. He was still down the road, fuming.”

A grin etches itself across Smith’s face. He is entitled to smile after giving a good account of himself in the Highlands, delivering the cross from which Lawrence Shankland scored Hearts’ equaliser. “Last season I was playing on the left and I enjoyed it but I think centre midfield is my best position. I’m glad the gaffer seems to think the same. All the coaches just said: ‘Be positive. Do what you’ve been doing recently and you will do well.’

“I don’t think I was brilliant on Sunday and I don’t think I was terrible. I had a good game. The boys did well and we got the three points, that’s all that really matters. After about half an hour, I felt my legs cramping up already. That’s the first time I’ve felt like that since I made my Hearts debut at Easter Road when I was 17. I thought I’d gone past all that but it’s mad how it happens. The adrenaline just comes up on you. I still felt okay. I think you maybe start to feel better after a few starts, so hopefully that comes for me.”