Robbie Neilson has no concerns over losing top scorer Lawrence Shankland has he provided an update on Stephen Humphrys and identified a key area for Hearts recruitment.
The Jambos gaffer made a strong push this summer to bring the Scotland international to the capital with his patience paying off. He's been rewarded handsomely for his determination to get the hitman on board with 18 goals to date this campaign. 15 of those strikes have come in the Scottish Premiership.
His two latest goals came in the thumping Edinburgh derby win over Hearts with the 27-year-old installed as skipper until the summer after Craig Gordon's horror double leg break on Christmas Eve against Dundee United. His efforts to date are bound to go unnoticed but Neilson has no worries and warned it would cost 'a lot of money' to prize him away. When asked if he was concerned about possible interest from elsewhere, he told Edinburgh Evening News: “Not really. He's top scorer in the league and our club captain so if somebody wants to buy him it's going to cost a lot of money. There's nothing there at the moment.”
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Stephen Humprhys was also on target in the Edinburgh Derby and is currently on loan. Neilson says he is one they'd potentially work to complete in the summer but he has 18 months left on his Wigan deal - with the club holding a recall option this month.
He added: "He's got 18 months left at Wigan so it's not something we would do just now but potentially in the summer, we might look at that.
"Wigan have an option to take him back this month so we're waiting to see about that. It's not in our hands.
"We're desperate to keep him and I know Stephen's desperate to stay here but ultimately the parent club have the power."
Craig Halkett has been struck with another long-term spell on the sidelines with Hearts desperate to get centre-back cover over the line, Neilson continued: "Yes, it's an area we're looking to strengthen in. We've got a couple of targets we're hopeful of getting.”
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