Heart of Midlothian are heading into the 2024/25 Scottish Premiership season with tremendous strength in depth throughout the squad.

With the exception of left-back after the recent sale of Alex Cochrane, there are at least two first-team players for every position and, in some cases, three or four, providing Stephen Kingsley and Kye Rowles are predominantly viewed as centre-backs.

With so many options for head coach Steven Naismith in which to choose from there is going to be plenty of competition within the squad as team-mates battle each other for positions on the park. He said as much after the Fleetwood Town friendly.

"I think the way we've recruited, the players we have brought in, competition for places is high," he noted. "I don't think there is going to be much hiding place for players or there is not going to be any areas where you can get comfortable because you think you are going to play all the time because all over the pitch as the last year has gone on we have managed to progress in most areas. It's competition for places." 

With that in mind, we look at the most interesting position battles ahead of the new campaign...

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Centre-back pairing

Frankie Kent v Craig Halkett; Kye Rowles v Stephen Kingsley

Hearts played with a back four in pre-season, mostly a 4-2-3-1 to be more precise, so we can only assume this will continue into the league campaign, shrinking the available places in the starting XI for a squad that could easily field at least four talented tried-and-test centre-backs for this level.

Combinations will be mixed throughout the campaign, depending on form, injury, schedule or opponent, but typically we can expect Naismith to select one of either Kent or Halkett to partner either Rowles or Kingsley. The latter two are more comfortable on the ball and provide a bit more quickness and the former pair can be relied upon to win aerial battles and clear their lines.

At present, Kent is the first name on the team sheet after Lawrence Shankland following a highly impressive debut campaign last term, when he was roundly regarded as the best signing the club made. But if he should have his first significant dip in form at the club, he’s got some stiff competition waiting in the wings.

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As good as Kent was last season, it still doesn’t match up to Halkett’s efforts in the 2021/22 campaign, which was the last time the former Livingston captain was fit and available for most of the season. The advanced statistics add evidence to this claim: Halkett won more of his aerial duels, made more interceptions and stopped opponents at a higher rate. He also passed the ball better.

His injury struggles have been well documented and it may be too much to expect him to return to those prior levels when he was on the verge of being capped by Scotland, but if he does then Kent's place as being one of the first names on the team sheet could come under threat.

Depending on his fitness, Kingsley may well start the Rangers game at left-back after the sale of Alex Cochrane, but if Naismith has enough faith in Alex Penrice to be his No.3 then Kingsley would be fancied to begin the season alongside Kent. He had a better 2023/24 campaign than Rowles, though both players bounced back from poor conclusions to the campaign prior.

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This is an interesting battle because some other factors come into play. Kingsley is in the last year of his deal and is now 30, so the chances of the club ever making any money off him are very slim. Although, at a position where players age a bit slower, you could easily see Kingsley seeing out the rest of his career at Tynecastle as a defensive general.

As for Rowles, he still has four years remaining on the bumper deal he signed in the wake of an impressive 2022 World Cup. At 25, there’s still a lot of room for improvement and a standout season would see a lot of interest. The club may prefer him to win this battle, but for him to do so he’ll need to finally show on a consistent basis he’s capable of handling the more rough-and-tumble strikers in the league.

Right-back

Gerald Taylor v Daniel Oyegoke

Hearts have suffered through inconsistency at the right-back position ever since Michael Smith's bankable 7/10 performances disappeared under the weight of advancing age and recurring back issues. This summer they set out to do something about it, signing both Taylor and Oyegoke and essentially telling Nathaniel Atkinson that he was up for transfer. With the Australian likely to be out of the picture, regardless of whether he goes this window or not, which of the two new guys will make the position his own?

At present it certainly seems like Taylor is in pole position and has already managed to thrill the Tynecastle support with an impressive performance in the friendly defeat to Tottenham Hotspur. The Costa Rican, signed on loan with an option to buy, mauraded forward at every opportunity and asked questions of the EPL side’s defence.

Oyegoke, on the other hand, played a fair bit at centre-back on loan to Bradford City last campaign, which conjures images of a 'Steady Eddie' compared with Taylor's swashbuckling style. That, however, would be doing Oyegoke a disservice. He too has an enthusiasm for charging up the wing, taking on players and attacking the opposition penalty area.

Given the relative youth of both players (Oyegoke is 21; Taylor 23) and their lack of experience at this level, expect them each to have a run at the position this term. Inconsistency at right-back may therefore remain for the time being, but Hearts are betting that at least one of them will figure it out and become a nailed-on starter in the not-so-distant future.

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Centre-midfield battle royale

Beni Baningime v Calem Nieuwenhof v Cammy Devlin v Jorge Grant v Blair Spittal v Macaulay Tait (v Malachi Boateng?)

The list of contenders above doesn't even include Yan Dhanda or Barrie McKay, who can both operate in a midfield three when called upon. Or even Liam Boyce!

Making things even more complicated is the fact that every player listed above has played in different roles in the middle of the park, either as a No.6 whose job it is to stop the opposition, bring some energy and recycle possession (Baningime, Nieuwenhof, Devlin and Tait) or as a No.8 advancing forward to join the attackers (Grant and Spittal).

Devlin may even be included in the latter rotation this term as Naismith has made it known he sees his future as a box-to-box midfielder capable of getting more goals and assists in one season than he has the rest of his Hearts career – or at least you'd certainly hope so if that's going to be his position.

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Boateng is another interesting wrinkle as Hearts look set to secure the services of the former Queen's Park and Dundee midfielder. He's another, like Baningime, who is at his best as the deepest midfielder but can do a job as part of a two-man midfield.

There's likely to be few, if any, outright winners from this free-for-all. Between injuries, fatigue due to a punishing fixture schedule and Naismith's penchant for tweaking his team in order to nullify the opposition, expect the trend from last season to continue and there to be a lot of rotation.

Lock picker

Yan Dhanda v Barrie McKay

It seems Naismith wants to try Dhanda and McKay in the same team. It's certainly a lot of creativity and, if all goes well, Hearts could be an excellent team to watch, playing some intricate, one-touch attacking football and scoring lots of goals. However, there's also a chance the two won't be able to coexist in the same line-up. They're similar players: technically excellent, addicted to the through ball and play the game with their head up.

But they also take up similar positions because while McKay largely operates from the left, he often drifts into areas where Dhanda is expected to be. Similarly, at Ross County Dhanda would often drift back into wider areas to try and get on the ball. Something we have witnessed during pre-season.

It may come to the point where one largely starts and the other comes off the bench. In fairness, it's not the worst problem to have and underlines the strength of the squad.

Pacey attacker

Kenneth Vargas v Alan Forrest v Yutaro Oda v Musa Drammeh

If Dhanda and McKay cannot co-exist, there then will be two spaces instead of one for the above trio in the strongest XI as Naismith constructs the best possible attacking trident to supplement leading goalscorer and talisman Lawrence Shankland. The only thing that Shankland doesn't have in his locker is pace, so it's imperative to have at least one player in the team who can stretch opposing defences.

Vargas will go into the campaign as the No.1 option. He had the strongest end to last season and having paid a six-figure sum to sign him on a permanent deal, the Hearts hierarchy will be keenly looking forward to what he can do this term. But if Vargas falters, suffers injury or is required to play in place of Shankland up top, then another spot would become available.

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The management will be desperate for Oda to grasp any such opportunity. The 22-year-old has all the tools you want in a wide player: he's fast, he runs at defenders and he gets himself in good positions to score. But his decision-making needs a lot of improvement and he's increasingly looked better as an option off the bench rather than from the start.

Forrest remains the safer bet behind Vargas for the time being. Summer signing Musa Drammeh is viewed as someone more for the future. He'll very much be a part of the first-team squad this season, but isn't expected to get the same opportunities that Vargas was given last term.