Lawrence Shankland hasn’t taken long to make himself a firm favourite down Gorgie way. A couple of goals on his debut in the pre-season debut against Stoke helped, but his status as a Hearts hero was cemented with a strike in his first Edinburgh derby on Sunday - then reinforced by a goal-line clearance to deny Elias Melkersen at the other end a couple of minutes later.
Those efforts had the Hearts support singing his praises long and loud at Easter Road and looked like being the two moments that mattered in a frantic Capital clash until Martin Boyle decided to rip up the script and create his own fairytale ending with virtually the final kick of the ball. Shankland didn’t try to hide his disappointment at the manner in which the match had finished but when the dust had settled, the 26-year-old reckoned there were far more positives than negatives to take from the Jambos’ display.
And he believes a partnership with Barrie McKay, who created his goal on Sunday, will become even more of a threat as they get to know each other better in the coming weeks and months. The Scotland international, who returned to the Premiership after a disappointing spell in Belgium with Beerschot, said: “It was a sickener for us, conceding that late in the game. Everyone knows that.
