Robbie Neilson reckons Alex Cochrane is only going to get better as he heaped praise on his Hearts star for his attitude and performances.
The Jambos brought the defender to the capital initially on a loan deal from English Premier League outfit Brighton without hardly any first-team football experience and after a solid season in Gorgie, the club struck a permanent deal with his development over the past year branded 'night-and-day'.
His importance to Neilson's side in both their domestic and Europa Conference League campaign has been highlighted with the full-back playing the most minutes this season alongside skipper and goalkeeper Craig Gordon. Neilson has labelled that achievement as 'outstanding' and says he has complete faith and trust in the 22-year-old. Speaking to Edinburgh Evening News, he said: "Alex has had loads of good performances. First and foremost, every day in training the boy wants to get better.
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"I know it sounds daft but there are a lot of players who don't do that. They come in and just focus on the next game. He is in every day wanting to get better.
"He works on himself and looks after himself. The rewards he gets from it is his performance. It's what he does Monday to Friday that gets him there.
“He has developed massively. We brought him here at the start of last season on loan from Brighton. He had hardly played any first-team football.
"His development from then until now is night-and-day. He is now a man, he's making good decisions, he's aggressive, he trusts himself in the air and he trusts himself physically. He is only going to get better.
“I think him and Craig Gordon have played the most minutes this season. For an outfield player to do that is outstanding. He is a guy who can just keep going and keep going. You can trust him 100 per cent and he will give you everything.”
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