Lawrence Shankland can feel 'free' again as Neil Critchley hopes Hearts skipper can kick on after big moment

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Lawrence Shankland finally got himself back on the goal trail as his double helped haul Hearts off the bottom of the table — and sent Hibs there instead.The Tynecastle skipper netted a first-half brace in a deserved win against a surprisingly subdued Dundee to end a 203-day goal drought.

His two goals in 10-minute spell ended a run of a dozen games without a goal but he could easily have scored four or five here, with Dundee keeper Jon McCracken in fine form.So too was Craig Gordon, who celebrated his 100th clean sheet for Hearts in another highlight of a remarkable few months for the 41-year-old.

Gaffer Neil Critchley insisted he never had any doubts that Shankland – last season’s talisman with 24 Premiership goals – would come good again.

He said: “It’s nice to score a few goals, particularly Shanks, getting both goals.“I very much hope he can go on from here. If you look at some of his stats and the data behind his performances, then other than the last little bit, he’s been very similar to what he’s been producing particularly last season.