Lawrence Shankland and Liam Boyce to pair up for Hearts as Ross County league opener approaches

Readying players for domestic and European commitments inside six weeks is never easy. Preparations at Riccarton have been exhausting this summer but that is merely a portent of things to come as a result of group stage football on the Continent.

Enough of that for now. Saturday brings Ross County to Tynecastle Park for the cinch Premiership’s opening weekend. Six new Hearts signings are in place and may all feature at some stage of the first match. Alan Forrest, Kye Rowles, Lewis Neilson, Alex Cochrane, Jorge Grant and Lawrence Shankland weren’t recruited as shirt-fillers.

Hopes are high for them all, with Shankland regarded as the marquee signing of the bunch. He arrived last week to shoulder immediate goalscoring responsibilities as the club’s new No.9. He will also be expected to dovetail with the existing No.10.

Liam Boyce, last season’s top goalscorer in maroon, remains a key component of the side and a considerable scoring threat himself. The pair enjoyed the final 30 minutes together in Saturday’s final pre-season friendly as Shankland's double earned a 2-1 win over Stoke City.

That half hour produced signs of an embryonic rapport between the Scotsman and Northern Irishman. Manager Robbie Neilson must now decide whether to harness it by starting both forwards together against County. It would be a brave man who left either out on the opening day.

“We've got a way of playing, a formation we can tweak a wee bit to get the two of them in the team when need be,” Neilson told the Evening News. “We started 3-4-3 against Stoke and went to 3-5-2. That got the two of them up there with Barrie McKay in behind, so there will be options to change it.

“One of them will play as the main striker. I see Shanks more as the No.9