Lawrence Shankland declares Hearts his best chance yet to win trophies in veiled Aberdeen and Dundee United dig

Lawrence Shankland reckons he has a better chance of winning trophies at Hearts than he ever did at Aberdeen or Dundee United.

Shankland began his professional career at Queen's Park before joining Aberdeen in 2013. He failed to score in 17 appearances for the Dons though did impress on loan at Dunfermline and St Mirren and left for Ayr United in 2017, where he really began to blossom as a striker. There, he notched 63 in 74 for the Honest Men as clubs across the country took notice. It was Dundee United who snapped him up and he continued his rich vein of form on Tayside, earning his first Scotland cap and stating his name as one of the most promising strikers in the country.

He left United for an ill-fated stint in Belgium before Robbie Neilson brought him back to Scotland in the summer. And he has repaid the faith shown in him by the Jambos - by naming them as bigger than his two previous employers as Robbie Neilson's men aim to win silverware.

Asked if he has thought about winning trophies as stand-in Hearts captain with Craig Gordon out injured, Shankland said to PLZ: "It is something I think about, of course. You always dream of it as a kid, you want to win trophies. Coming here is probably the best opportunity I've had at a club this size, maybe, to win silverware.

"Obviously we have a tough tie in the next round, we've got past Hibs and Hamilton up until now and then we have Celtic. But if you want to win the cups you probably have to beat them somewhere along the line and hopefully we can do that.

"I hope (Hearts can win the cup)! Obviously the boys have been close, they've got to the finals, and it would be a first for me if we manage to get through. We just need to concentrate on this round, Celtic's going to