Breaking Hearts records and top scorer rivals - Lawrence Shankland Q&A

After barely getting a sniff during the first half, the Hearts captain took matters into his own hands in the second, scoring a terrific solo effort as he hit a half-century of goals in maroon in spectacular fashion.

Shankland met the press after the match where the Scotland internationalist discussed hitting the milestone, his scoring targets for the rest of the season, messages from John Robertson and his most likely challengers for the Premiership's golden boot this term.

Here's everything that Hearts' No.9 said.

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You must be pleased to hit the 50-goal landmark?

It’s a nice feeling. I actually forgot it was my 50th until I saw the banner at the end! It was that tight a game and I was just concentrating on that, but aye. It’s a great feeling and a great wee achievement for me.

Does your goal sum it all up? You hadn’t really had a sniff before that and then you take your chance.

I think it was probably my only chance tonight. It’s important and it’s part of my job. I have made a bit of a habit of it recently, which is good. It’s just about getting into positions and then, when the chances come, putting them away. Thankfully enough I managed it!

You seem to like playing St Johnstone, that’s three in three against them now?

So it is. I don’t actually look at things like that too much before I play, every game is different. But aye, obviously it’s a decent record against them and thankfully enough I netted another winner.

You’ve now got 50 goals in 18 months at Hearts, could you have imagined it going this well when you first came back from Belgium?

Aye, probably. When I moved I knew I would get chances. Hearts are a team that tend to be at the top end of the table. So as a striker coming in, I fancied myself to score goals. It had been a long time since someone had scored 20 for them so I kinda had that in the back of my head at the start, that I could maybe go and achieve that. To get that back-to-back… I’ve hit 20 goals, not in the league yet, but I’m heading for that. To get 50 in my time here so far is great.

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Have you spoken to John Robertson at all?

Aye, I have. Just over text – I’ve just seen that he’s messaged me just there, actually. He always gives me wee messages here and there, and he messaged me after we beat Hibs. It’s nice – he holds all the records and they’ve been his for a long time, but it’s now up to me to go and put a new name on them.

Robertson was the last Hearts player to score 30 goals in a season, is that something you have your eye on now?

Aye, it’s probably doable now at this stage. But for me, I’ve always been the type where I just keep trying to get one more and one more, and then those ones add up. That’s the attitude I’ll have going forward and we will see where I end up at the end of the season.

What do you say to your team-mates in terms of where you want the ball? Do you just want them to put it into an area, like tonight, and then you can take it from there?

I’ve scored all different types of goals this season, so it hasn’t really been consistent. But I’m confident that if I get the ball around the box then I can make things happen. Thankfully enough I managed it tonight. It looked like a long punt but Frank made eye contact with me when I was making the run. I was that worried I was offside I didn’t celebrate much! But I just managed to get my body in and get a wee touch over McGowan. To be fair, Considine managed to get back and he has got a touch on it, so it’s come off me as I went to shoot. There’s a wee bit of luck there but you need that along the way.

How much do you put into your game in terms of using your body?

It’s probably a more natural thing I’ve had since I was a kid. It doesn’t take a scientist to work out that I’m not lightning-quick, so I need to find other ways to use to my advantage. So I’ve always used my body pretty well. It’s a natural thing I’ve always had but the more you move up the levels, the more important it becomes. It’s one of my main strengths.

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Is the aim now to try and finish as the league’s top scorer?

Of course, aye. Coming off the back of last season, I came close but didn’t quite make it. But at the stage I am at just now, I need to be looking at that.

The form you’re in at the moment is also important for your Scotland spot with the Euros coming up?

Aye. The March camp is coming up next month so it’s important to try and be involved in that and keep my form up until then. And then after that it’s a quick turnaround for the Euros. There will be a lot of talk and a lot of decisions to be made but for me, all I can do is affect what I can affect – and that’s what I do on the pitch for Hearts. I’ll look to just keep doing what I’m doing.

Scotland have shown with the win over Spain that they can mix it with the big boys?

That’s it. I think those games are important for the team’s progress. In a way, the win over Spain secured the chance to go through because it’s hard for the other teams to beat the Pot A teams. It was a massive result and it played its part, but I’m sure the boys will be looking forward to that challenge.

Do you think the drive to get to the Euros has added to your game subconsciously over the past few months?

I dunno. I don’t know if it’s just me but I don’t tend to think about the national team too much. There are that many games in the here and now, and I think all the boys are the same. In football, anything can happen between now and then in the international camps – apart from September, October and November, it’s quite a big gap from March until then. I just concentrate on the club football.

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Are there any other players in the league you see as your biggest challenger for the golden boot this season?

Whoever’s close! Miovksi is obviously doing well at Aberdeen and scoring goals. I imagine Kyogo – did he score tonight? I’m waiting on him hitting a bit of form because he can bang them in as well! There are a lot of good strikers in this league, a lot of good goal scorers, so we will see where I end up. I won’t get too caught up in that either. I’ll just keep plugging away.

Contract talks are on hold but I take it you’re still relaxed about it?

Aye, I’ve got 18 months left on my deal so I imagine we will revisit that at some other time. We’ll see.