6 Hearts takeaways as Lawrence Shankland proves predatory instincts with debut double against Stoke
dailyrecord.co.ukBefore today, Lawrence Shankland had one goal in one appearance at Tynecastle. He now has three in two, all of them coming for Robbie Neilson sides.
He marked his Hearts debut with a brace to beat Stoke City 2-1 in Gary Locke's testimonial. Aside from the goals, it was a pretty quiet 90 minutes from Shankland, but that's exactly what the new number nine has been brought in to do; score goals.
He'll get sharper as he gets more minutes in his legs and becomes accustomed to how the Jambos play. Being familiar. with the manager and both of his assistants will help massively in that regard, as well the increased service he'll get in comparison to ploughing a lone furrow for a Micky Mellon Dundee United side that wasn't big on chance creation.
A solid first start from defender Kye Rowles was another plus as Neilson tried out a new back three. The Aussie looked assured despite not much n the way of regular football recently.He filled a couple of different positions within the back three and looks a shrewd addition, with Craig Halkett being asked to play differently to last season and Stephen Kingsley doing what he's done since signing on a free two years ago.The first since John Robertson?
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