Top of the scoring charts and on top of the Premiership table. It’s fair to say that life is treating Lawrence Shankland rather well these days.
Sure, there’s probably a tinge of frustration in the fact that the Hearts supporters haven’t managed to come up with a chant quite as catchy as the one bestowed upon his team-mate Claudio Braga. But that aside, things are pretty rosy.
And the good news is that it’s about to get even better when Steve Clarke calls him up for Scotland’s upcoming World Cup qualifying double-header against Greece and Denmark. It’s a given, right?
Well, perhaps not, given the way the national team manager goes about things. Rightly or wrongly, his loyalty to certain players has been a stick to batter him with throughout his six and a half years at the helm.
Indeed, Shankland was the beneficiary of it this time last year. Even he must have raised an eyebrow when his name was announced in the squad for the final round of Nations League fixtures.
At that point, he had netted just once all season and appeared to have the weight of the world on his shoulders. Yet Clarke stuck with him, and even threw him on for the last 25 minutes of a fine 2-1 win in Poland to round off that campaign.
Lawrence Shankland has netted nine goals in all competitions for Hearts this season
He is hoping to be included in Steve Clarke’s squad for the upcoming double-header
Shankland was part of the Scotland side which made it to EURO 2024 but barely featured
The 30-year-old hasn’t been spotted in a Scotland jersey since.
That’s not to say Clarke has been ignoring him. He said as much after snubbing him for the squad which was called up to face Greece and Belarus last month, despite the striker’s blistering start to the season.
Those who’d been involved in the previous camp were given priority. But Shankland has surely done enough to force the manager’s hand this time?
His goal in Wednesday’s 2-2 draw at St Mirren took his top-flight tally to six for the campaign, and nine in all competitions.
Three of those have come in statement wins over both halves of the Old Firm on Hearts’ unprecedented rise to the summit. The confidence which seemingly deserted him last season is back.
Shankland is quite simply the most natural finisher at Clarke’s disposal. It would be madness to leave him out given the stakes.
Four were selected to fill the attacking quota for the previous squad, with Lyndon Dykes, Che Adams, Kieron Bowie and George Hirst given the nod.
Of that quartet, Dykes and Adams are no-brainers. Granted, neither have found top form at Birmingham City and Torino respectively this season, but both have produced the goods and the goals for Scotland in recent months.
Torino striker Che Adams got on the scoresheet for Scotland against Belarus last time out
Barring injury to the aforementioned duo, that leaves two spots up for grabs. Hirst has been a regular for Ipswich Town in the Championship, but has struggled to find the back of the net.
Bowie, meanwhile, has gone off the boil after making an impressive start for Hibernian. The 23-year-old is an exciting prospect, and plenty within the Tartan Army have been screaming out for him to get more international minutes under his belt.
However, Shankland — at least for now — is far and away the more reliable option.
Questions still remain over whether he is up to the task of being the lone striker in Clarke’s favoured system. It’s probably why he’s found it so hard to nail down a place in the squad over the years.
And it’s probably one of the reasons why he was given just 25 minutes of playing time over three games during Scotland’s miserable Euro 2024 adventure in Germany.
Hopefully Scotland will find themselves competing in a major tournament once again this summer. To have any chance of getting there though, points will be required against the Greeks and Danes.
In what promises to be two nervy games against decent opposition, it’s always handy to have a guy to call on who can make the difference inside the area.
And in Shankland, there is no one better equipped.
Steven Pressley takes his Dundee side to Tynecastle today hoping to end Hearts’ unbeaten run
He’ll have another opportunity to catch Clarke’s eye this afternoon when Dundee rock up in Edinburgh.
With Celtic in Premier Sports Cup action against Rangers at Hampden on Sunday, Hearts can move nine points clear of the reigning champions with a win.
Dark Blues boss Steven Pressley — on his return to Tynecastle — will have something to say about that, mind you.
Elvis was a key figure of the Hearts team of 2005-06 which looked for all the world as if they could challenge for the title before the wheels ultimately fell off following George Burley’s sacking.
But any affinity for his former employers will no doubt be shelved for 90 minutes this weekend.
He’ll do well to get any change out of the unbeaten league leaders, though.
Their display in Paisley midweek was far from perfect. In fact, from a defensive perspective, it was a shocker. Uncharacteristically so.
It was a contest they could have quite easily lost, especially if Miguel Freckleton’s second ‘goal’ of the night for the Buddies hadn’t been chopped off for a dubious offside decision.
Hearts manager Derek McInnes believes there is far more to come from his players
But as they have done quite a few times already, the men in maroon managed to grind out a result.
Manager Derek McInnes has repeatedly said that there is more to come from his players, and he’s probably right.
Even the most ardent of Hearts fans would admit that their team haven’t been blowing the opposition away during this terrific run. Not that they care, and nor should they.
But it bodes well that the manager believes his side are yet to reach their potential. No wonder the supporters are dreaming.
