Lawrence Shankland on Hearts form and Steve Clarke call

A big win for yourselv today, how do you see it?

It's a big result. Obviously we came here last year, I think they won maybe one out of two. Motherwell have always performed well against us, so we knew it was going to be tough but I thought we performed really well today. Solid away performance and overall I think we deserved to win.

Do you feel like you needed that win?

I think coming into the game we knew how big it was and to come here and get a result would be the best statement for the ups and downs we’ve had this season so far. I think that’s probably been the biggest thing, it has been so up and down, there hasn't been any real consistency winning or losing. It’s been indifferent so it can sometimes cause frustrations among people and I understand that. But the main thing was coming here and getting the win ahead of the international break. 

You’re now fourth. This is the last international break until March - is this a platform to be less topsy-turvy?

Hopefully. I can’t see ahead now but I think today was a solid performance, I think at times we performed really well. Of course we came under a bit of pressure in the second half when Motherwell throw full bodies forward. Then we give away the penalty that puts us under a bit of pressure but I think we stood up to it. In recent weeks we’ve conceded goals quite quickly but we made that point that it wouldn’t happen again. To be fair, the boys at the back, the back three stood up to it really well and the team defended really well when it was asked.

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Was that the most pleasing thing, the defensive display?

For me it was. Of course questions have been asked in that area of the game recently. And I know we can do it. We see it in training. It's frustrating when you lose goals so quickly and it causes you problems in games. Obviously, [against Motherwell] the first one’s a penalty and to be fair I think it was a handball. But I thought we did it really well.

Are you surprised there were no penalties for Hearts?

To be fair, the ref with the first one didn’t think it was a penalty to start with - he said that. Then he went over. I haven’t seen it back. I thought the foot was pretty high and he gave two fouls in the game that were pretty similar heights of foot. But he stuck with his decision, so fair play to him. Second one, I think he gives a foul when the ball gets crossed over to me. He thinks there’s a push just before me, when I receive that ball so that was the foul that he gave. I don’t know if the boy touched the ball but the people around me didn’t so it was the first foul he gave. 

Did you think it would go your way when it went to VAR?

Aye - nine times out of 10 they kind of get swayed by VAR but fair play to him if that’s what he thought, it was his decision and he stuck by it. I haven’t seen it so I can’t disagree with him  but if that’s what he thought then fair play to sticking to his guns. 

That's now five goals in as many games, how are you feeling?

Yeah, my form has turned a bit since the start of the season. The goals weren’t as free-flowing. My general play wasn’t as good as it could have been. But after the last international break, I got a wee break and came back and played really well. Overall performances have been good, I’ve been happy with them and the goals have flowed today. 

They were two different types of goals as well.

Aye, Frankie’s just headed it down and I just managed to get a flick on it, sneak it in by the post and the second one is a good ball from Beni. But I’ve got 25 yards to run at the goal and you think 'do I chip him, go round him' but thankfully enough I managed to go round him and beat the guy that was running back as well. No, I was happy with them.

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What made you take the decision to go round Kelly?

It's a split-second decision. I think with how quick he was coming out, I had quite a lot of space to play with so I managed to just knock it to his left, but he was quite quick off his line to be fair, but thankfully I managed to get round. 

Did you see the boy coming back?

I did - I knew he was going to be sprinting back, it was so slippy out there so I knew I had to play it behind me so I just delayed it until I could see him in my eye level. Thankfully enough he gambled on me shooting. 

Do you have regular conversations with Steve Clarke? How big a target is the Euros next summer?

I don’t have regular conversations, I don’t think anyone does with international managers. He does his job outwith all the clubs, I concentrate on what I’m doing here. He spoke to me before the last camp when I was left out. He called me to let me know I wouldn’t be involved in this one because I’d been involved in the one previously. So that was fair enough. But I don’t expect to hear from him to be honest. I'll just keep doing what I’m doing. But as I say, recently my form’s been better, it’s picked up, scoring goals again so that’s all I can do. Do what I’m doing for Hearts and I say it all the time, but national teams take care of themselves when they come around. 

Is the Euros an incentive for you?

Of course! But it’s ages away, to be honest I think in football you need to live in the here and now and deal with what’s coming soon. So if I keep doing that month to month then when that comes round if I’m in good form then we will see what happens.

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