James Wilson is in contention for his first start for Heart of Midlothian following two goals in his last two outings.

The 17-year-old was the name on everyone's lips following Sunday's 1-1 draw against Hibs having come off the bench to score a late equaliser at Easter Road.

With a hectic schedule and Lawrence Shankland and Kenneth Vargas having started the last three games, could Wilson be in line to be part of the attacking from the start against Kilmarnock at Tynecastle Park on Wednesday night?

“James is like anyone else," Neil Critchley said, "he comes into contention like any other player. If he's performing well, training well, then he comes into contention. 

“What I always have to take into consideration is, let's not put too much pressure on him. 

“He's 17, he's a baby. He's got so much time. But the beauty of us and this club is we can give him that time.”

There was no need to try to keep Wilson grounded following his first derby goal. The player revealed afterward that he had to go home to finish a PE assignment for school the next day.

"No, not at all," Critchley said. "He was first on the training pitch this morning. If he'd have been in and amongst the group or coming out later, he would have got an ear bashing.

"He's a humble boy. I think he's slightly embarrassed by the attention. He just lives for scoring goals and playing football. That's all I want to keep his focus on at the moment."

Wilson has an ideal head coach to help develop and guide him. 

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Critchley's background is in coaching and youth development, owing to years spent at Crewe Alexandra and then Liverpool.

"You treat every player as an individual, everyone's different," he said when asked what it's like managing a 17-year-old. "You have certain parameters of how you want to work.

"How I deal with certain individuals might be different because they're different people. James is obviously 17, so I'd speak to him differently than maybe I'd speak to Craig Gordon, for instance. But your values and your morals always remain consistent.

"James is a lovely boy, humble, wants to listen, wants to learn. And as I say I think the attention and that slightly embarrasses him a little bit."