Lawrence Shankland Hearts contract bombshell hasn't shaken Tynecastle squad as Jambos ally speaks out

Blair Spittal checked into professional football as a late substitute for Lawrence Shankland with Queen’s Park. Almost exactly 12 years after that low key debut at Montrose - and having been reunited with his old mucker at Hearts - the midfielder is readying himself for Shankland checking OUT of Tynecastle.

Scotland’s player of the year openly revealed at the weekend that, as things stand, he will be leaving Gorgie in the next seven months with his contract running down. But Spittal insists nobody inside the Tynecastle dressing room has been shaken by his bombshell - least of all Shankland himself.

The duo broke through at the Spiders as raw 16-year-olds in 2012. Fast forward a dozen years - and more than 200 goals for Shankland - and few inside Hearts know what makes the hitman tick better than Spittal.

The goals have dried up this season after a remarkable tally of 31 in the last campaign. The offer of a bumper new deal that was on the table but remained unsigned at the start of the year has disappeared too. But while Shankland’s honesty over his contract situation in Gorgie may have made created noise on the outside with the transfer window just a month away, Spittal insists there were no shockwaves inside the squad.

He said: “Not at all. In football these days it’s common for boys to go into the last year of their contracts. It’s not affected the changing room - or Lawrence. Whatever happens happens and we just need to concentrate on what we’re doing. We have a really busy schedule coming up and those sort of things will take care of themselves whenever that is. Lawrence’s main focus at the minute is on making sure he’s putting in good performances and getting back on the scoresheet.”

Spittal certainly hasn’t lost