Exclusive: Alex Cochrane reveals how Hearts improved him as a player after loan move from Brighton

The 21-year-old signed a season-long agreement at Tynecastle Park last summer and quickly became an established first-team regular in a team challenging for European qualification.

He has played 22 games to date, predominantly at left wing-back, and scored three goals. Detailing the growth in his game in Scotland, Cochrane spoke exclusively to the Evening News about his rapid development.

“I feel I've got more experience under my belt,” he said. “There are still areas of my game I need to work on but, at the same time, I'm still young. It's stuff I need to improve on in training but I feel I've come on a lot since the start of the season.

“We're more than halfway through now so I'm still pushing on and hoping for success. I feel I've really come on leaps and bounds with Hearts, especially defensively. It's something I've been working on and I've made sure I've been knuckling down.

“Going forward, I've been getting more freedom into my play and linking up with players. I feel I'm doing that more and more this season.”

His most recent goal came last weekend as he completed the scoring in Hearts’ 5-0 Scottish Cup win at Auchinleck Talbot. Cochrane said recent signing Nathaniel Atkinson deserved all the credit for beating two Auchinleck players to lay the chance on a plate for his fellow wing-back.

“I just had a feeling he was going to get the better of them,” smiled Cochrane. “I just had to be in front of the goal to get an easy tap-in. He did all the hard work. I had the easy job of putting in the back of the net.

“The cup is massive and we are taking the competition very seriously. We know we are going to have to put in a performance again in the next round. We want a cup run this year.

“The fans definitely feel it. I