Hearts choose their goalkeeper for Rangers cup semi

Hearts will name Craig Gordon in goal for Sunday’s Scottish Cup semi-final against Rangers. The 41-year-old returned to the starting line-up in place of Zander Clark against Livingston last week and will retain his place at Hampden Park.

Head coach Steven Naismith confirmed the decision as he ponders other team selection matters. Gordon returned to action in January after a year out with a double leg-break and has played in all Hearts’ Scottish Cup matches to date this season. Clark was preferred in Premiership games until last weekend.

“He played last week to get more minutes and he will play on Sunday,” said Naismith regarding Gordon. In his first season in senior management, Naismith is eager to finish with silverware. “I want to win it, to be honest. It would be a good achievement to get to the final. You then understand the day that’s coming because I’ve been there, but it depends if you win it or not. Win it and it’s the best memories that live with you forever. If you don’t then you don’t remember them because you’re depressed.”

Naismith was part of the Hearts team which lost the delayed 2020 final to Celtic on penalties. It is a memory he has buried in his mind. “When you start to think about it then yeah, but I don’t remember as much as when I’ve won the trophies I have. I just know it hurts a lot and the biggest thing you reflect on is how close you are,” he explained.

“I got beat 5-1 by Hibs in the first one I played in with Kilmarnock. The ones that are close, it’s small margins. We have a right opportunity to get to a final on Sunday first of all. I think we are in a good place that we can beat any of the teams that are left in the competition.”

Hearts will again be without the Australian midfielder Calem Nieuwenhof this weekend due to a problem in his hamstring area. “Calem is still out. He is probably going to be out for a wee bit longer than expected,” admitted Naismith.

“[Liam] Boycie, [Craig] Halkett and [Peter] Haring are still out, everybody else is fit to play. Calem did come back into training but at a limited level. Pushing on became an issue so we've had it re-scanned. It's part of his tendon rather than just a soft tissue or a muscle injury. It's going to be a bit longer. There is no timeline at the moment. That's probably the one negative.”

Captain Lawrence Shankland will likely be an integral figure if Hearts are to eliminate their Ibrox counterparts and reach next month’s final against either Celtic or Aberdeen. The Scotland international striker has scored 29 goals in 45 games for club and country so far this season and is now a strong candidate to be named Player of the Year.

“He should be mentioned. I think he's got a really good chance,” agreed Naismith. “For two seasons in a row, to score the amount of goals that he has, and then on top of that his performances. If there's one moment to look at, then it's the narrative of not making the Scotland squad, to making the Scotland squad, then to 'can he be No.9 and can he go to the Euros?' to 'is he going to be our No.9?'

“That shows you how far he's progressed this season. He showed in the Netherlands game that he can be a target man as well as being a good finisher. If I'm honest, I think he's in with a right good chance of winning it. I first came across Shanks when I played with him for Scotland and he was just a finisher. From then until now, he's an all-round centre-forward. He's got real intelligence, a great touch, can score and his hold-up play is good. He's definitely progressed into an all-round forward.”

The last man to win PFA Scotland’s Player of the Year award who did not represent Rangers or Celtic was the Motherwell striker Michael Higdon in 2013. It is clearly a much more difficult honour to achieve for those not playing with one of the two Glasgow giants.

“You don’t often see it but that’s the agendas of other people who make these decisions rather than people looking at it subjectively and looking at the stats, performances and all the rest of it,” said Naismith. “I think Shanks has a good chance of winning it this year and if he does it’s probably a bigger achievement than an Old Firm player winning it.”

Shankland’s ability to perform different attacking roles make him an even more valuable asset at Tynecastle Park. His penalty-box instinct is well known but he deserves credit for linking with team-mates and dropping deep to help build play as a deep-lying forward.

“We’ve worked a lot this season on that part of it. He’s been receptive to doing it. He’s not just wanted to be in the box and scoring goals,” explained Naismith. “It’s taken Shanks’ game to a different level. He’s a better player now than a year ago and it helps that he has that versatility.

“Very rarely can you go into a game just being the same and go and win it. So you need a bit of versatility and it’s just small changes. Shanks has that understanding and intelligence to work it out. The midfielders running help him get assists and highlight the good play beforehand. It all buys into how we have improved as a team. As much as Shanks has taken the headlines and scored a lot of goals, I’m sure he will be the first to say the guys round about him and have helped him.”

Hearts choose their goalkeeper for Rangers cup semi - plus a Calem Nieuwenhof update