James Hill explains Hearts are helping him step out of dad's shadow and how school athletics developed secret weapon

James Hill reckons being recognised in an Edinburgh supermarket is proof his Hearts loan deal is checking out after a year stuck in cold storage with the Cherries.

The Bournemouth defender was plucked from obscurity on the south coast by Robbie Neilson last month. And after impressing in his seven appearances so far the 21-year-old is convinced he’s finally making a name for himself after too long being known as ‘Matty Hill’s son’.

The proof in the pudding arrived when he was spotted by a young fan while getting the shopping in at his local grocers. Hill’s dad was a Premier League star for Wolves in a career that saw him rack up over 600 appearances for Sheffield United, Barnsley, QPR and and Preston among others. But the Hearts stopper reckons he’s now finding himself again in the capital. He said: “I have been spotted here and there, like in Sainsbury's I've been recognised.

“I would never get recognised in Bournemouth although, to be fair, I never really played for Bournemouth, only in the cup games. I’m not really a player that's known.

“That's a nice thing about coming here. I'm really starting to make a name for myself. I was playing for Fleetwood and it was like 'James Hill is doing really well' but then I go to Bournemouth and I'm Matty Hill's son.

“So it was all 'that's Matty Hill's son, he was doing really well at Fleetwood, now he's at Bournemouth and training with the first team but not really playing'. Now I'm starting to become James Hill again and making a name for myself.

“If it's little kids coming up to you and saying 'it's James Hill' that's nice because some of them will have aspirations themselves about being a footballer. They'll look at you as a role model because you play for their favourite team.