What Lawrence Shankland said ahead of Hearts v Rangers

The Hearts captain spoke with the press ahead of Sunday's encounter. He discussed his evolution as a striker, the return of Barrie McKay, penalties and what he expects from Rangers. 

READ MORE: How Lawrence Shankland is now the all-round striker - and case for POTY award

A good week of preparation?

Aye. A good result last week against Livi and it was into training for a lot of tactical work, a wee bit different but it's been good.

Is there a spring in the step of the squad?

There is probably a natural lift. It's a big game we can go and look forward to and it's a wee break from the league as well. It's one we are all looking forward to.

Looking back to the League Cup semi-final. What didn't work and what can you do better this time around?

The feeling of regret when you came off the pitch was probably the biggest thing. We felt like we didn't really give it a go. Whether that be down to our game plan not working or just didn't feel right or it was a wee bit off. I think that is the first thing we will look to improve on. Try and put a bit of a stamp on the game and give ourselves a chance of going through. We felt as a group we didn't give ourselves the best chance that day. Hopefully we can improve. 

Is it easier to handle when walking off thinking, 'we couldn't really have done much more?'

It's just the feeling of not having given yourself a chance in the game. That's the biggest thing. That could have been down to the game plan not quite going to plan or other things. It is something we can improve on and through our league form we have. We feel like we are going into it in a better state.

Do you feel like this is a good time to play Rangers?

People always create a narrative on the outside that it is always good to play teams when they are not at their best. They have not become a bad team overnight. This might be a good break for them to get away from the league and play in the cup. There is definitely opportunity there and you need to analyse how teams have caused them problems and see if you can implement that in the game at the weekend and if you can it can give you a chance. Of course, it is better to play them now rather than when they are firing on all cylinders but I wouldn't act as if it is going to be an easier game than it would usually be.

Are they more dangerous because of this run?

Possibly. There is a lot of pressure on the game, for both teams. Rangers' last two results will add to that due to the scrutiny they will be under in the league. We can't look into that too much. We can maybe use it to our advantage at the time of the game and if the pressure increases throughout the game it could help us. But it is not something we can go and rely on, we need to put our game plan.

Has it been a case of watching Rangers games recently and rubbing your hands?

It doesn’t make a huge difference. You’d have watched the game against Dundee on Wednesday night. I don’t think any of us are thinking, 'Oh, I hope Rangers get beat here'. It doesn’t make a massive difference in terms of our approach to the game. But obviously some teams have had success against them recently. There might be some clues there for us to look at and analyse. Hopefully we can maybe look to implement some of those things.

You’re setting goals up for others now, are the team better as an attacking unit?

Yeah, it’s good to have the goals coming throughout the team. We had four different goalscorers last weekend. That’s always a good sign. Kenneth has been in good form as well, getting in amongst the goals. More than anything, it’s probably just down to boys getting into certain positions a bit more and believing they’re going to score goals. It’s maybe not easy when one guy just seems to keep on scoring and everything keeps falling to me. But a lot of boys are getting into the box now. We’re getting numbers in there. That’s something we’ve tried to improve on.

READ MORE: The Lawrence Shankland story: From Queen's Park to Hearts and Scotland star

Is the belief bigger now than a few months ago?

Results and form breeds belief. As players, that’s what you take forward when you’ve been on a good run. We’ve been playing well in the majority of games over a large part of the season now. We’ve become fairly consistent. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still been a couple of dodgy results in there at times. But, overall, we’ve been pretty good. We can take confidence from that and from our league position as well.

Do you get as much joy from setting a goal up as from scoring?

Yeah, to be honest, I’m not one who’s mad about it being me who scores all the goals. Of course it’s great at the time. But it’s a team game. I’m more than happy to see my team-mates scoring or even lay a few on for them. Last weekend, I had two important assists to help get us back into the game. I’m a team player.

What is your Hampden record like?

Yeah, my Hampden record is brilliant actually – I used to play for Queen’s Park… I’ve won loads of games there! No, I’m kidding. My record there probably isn’t the best, but I think I’ve only been two or three times in terms of the cups. You watch games on telly when you’re younger and obviously you think it would be great to play at Hampden in a cup final. But your career can take you in different directions at times. You never know. You can’t take these kind of opportunities for granted. They don’t come around too often. It’s back-to-back semi-finals for us in both cup competitions this season. Hopefully, we can go a step further this time and reach the final.

The manager spoke about work in training to make you more than a No.9, do you feel that improvement?

It’s probably been largely tactically, the way the manager wants to play at times, it’s a wee bit different. But I think everyone has said they feel my all-round game has improved over the past couple of years. Maybe that is due to getting a chance to play for a team in the top league, people are seeing a bit more of me. I’ve done well since I came here, you look to improve and want to improve, if I have done that I am happy.

READ MORE: Lawrence Shankland next Hearts milestones - 66-year wait, top scorer, 30 goals

Big thing with your assists is you will know the areas you want the ball as a striker...

I think that’s quite natural as a striker, quite often when strikers find themselves in a wide position they’ll put good balls into the box. You see it across Europe, it tends to be the pattern. Strikers just seem to know where they’d want it…although Yutaro didn’t the other day, right enough! Listen, it’s good, I have always wanted to improve my all round game.

What is it like to have Barrie McKay back?

Baz is a wee bit different to Alan, wee Alan is maybe more direct and Baz has that pass in him that can really cut a defence open. It’s good. One of the goals against Livingston was Alex Cochrane getting past him as well, there is lots of things that can fall into place. But when you go into these games it’s a big pressure environment, it’s natural there will be nerves around the place. You just need to find it within yourself to bring your bets and on the day hopefully everyone can do that.

If there’s a penalty, who is taking it?

I’m not saying!

What did Jorge Grant say to you before the penalty against Livingston?

He came over and said: ‘Do you want your goal?’ He’s a nicer guy than me because I wouldn’t have done that! It was good he was confident I would put it away. It was out of the blue, I was quite prepared for him to hit it. We’ll see, someone else might hit it this weekend. Kingsley, maybe! It’s a secret.

You've not played in a cup final is that something you'd always dreamed off going back to your days with Queen's Park at Hampden?

You want to be in the big cups but I haven’t had the opportunity in terms of the clubs I have been at. The teams I have played for haven’t had a real chance, it’s difficult when you’re playing in the lower leagues or for a lower-end team. The one I got close to was the Hibs one during Covid, I didn’t enjoy it to be honest, the stadium was empty, it wasn’t the same. This is an opportunity and if I can get to a final, great. We’ve done well in the cups to get this far. Semi-finals are always difficult games, there’s lots of pressure around them. One moment of magic or madness can decide it. You need a little bit of luck as well. Hopefully, things can fall for us.