Michael Smith has made it clear he would LOVE to stay at Hearts and sort out his future but concedes the decision is not down to him.
The 34-year-old is out of contract in the summer at Tynecastle but no talks have yet taking place about what happens beyond this season. The Northern Ireland international will continue to give everything for the shirt and admits he would be delighted if he got a contract extension but says if it is time to move on, although he would be disappointed, he would take it on the chin.
Speaking about his contract situation at Hearts, the veteran defender said: “I haven’t spoken about it, no. If the gaffer fancies me here for another year, then so be it. Everyone knows I love it here and I would love to stay. If it’s not to be then it’s not to be. I will still give my all for the shirt. At my age and with a family, it would be nice to sort my future out sooner rather than later. At the end of the day, it isn’t my decision.
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“If they want me here, that’s brilliant and I’d be really happy. But if they think it’s time for me to move on, I’ll be disappointed, but take it on the chin.”
During his time at Hearts, Smith has reached three Scottish Cup finals but lost them all. He has a burning desire to win the famous old trophy and says the 'phenomenal' squad are more than capable of landing the silverware come the end of the season.
Robbie Neilson's men defeated Hamilton Accies in the last 16 to book their quarter-final spot and will learn their fate later today. He added: “Most of the lads have been to a final now. I’ve lost three, so I’ve got a burning desire to win a trophy here and try and win that Scottish Cup. We know we can do it, we just need to be a little bit better on the actual day. We had a good season last season finishing third but just couldn’t cap it off with the cup.
“We had Europe this year and it was a tough start with a lot of games, but we’re picking up momentum and churning out the wins. Let’s see where it takes us.
“The squad is phenomenal and we even added to it in January, which made it even better. Really good players are missing out on starting places. You need to play well to keep your place. We have got real options now. It’s a good headache for the gaffer to have. Picking his team and trying to keep everyone happy, it’s quite hard to do that because everyone in this squad wants to play and play well.”
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