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Wherever Lawrence Shankland goes, there is no escaping title talk.
Never in his wildest dreams did the striker expect to be two games from Premiership glory when he ended a summer of speculation by signing a new three-year deal last summer.
But here he is. The prize is tantalisingly close. Hearts can even be crowned champions tonight – if they beat Falkirk at home and Celtic lose at Motherwell – and captain Shankland is adopting a tunnel-vision approach.
"There's obviously a lot to think about and take in. It's an exciting opportunity," said Shankland.
"There's a lot of talk around the place, and even outwith the building, everywhere you go, people like to talk to you about it.
"So it isn't easy, as professionals we've got a job to do. First and foremost we need to go and win the Falkirk game.
"There will be nerves, it's totally normal. You're a human being after all and when you get this close to achieving something great it's only normal to have them.
"It's just about controlling them, but throughout the season we've dealt with that really well. There's been all sorts of different pressures. We've been behind in a lot, we've had to come back.
"I've said to the boys a few times, we've dealt with every position you could possibly be in this season. We've dealt with it and we've come through it. That needs to continue."
Hearts remain unbeaten at Tynecastle this season, winning 14 of their 18 league matches. And Shankland is adamant the anger and frustration of being denied a penalty in last weekend's 1-1 draw at Motherwell – where Alexandros Kyziridis was clipped in the box by Tawanda Maswanhise – has been consigned to history.
"You need to move on," he said. "Throughout the season there's a lot of moments that become tough and you feel a wee bit down, but you need to move on quickly.
"We've done that really well this season. Every time we've suffered a wee setback, we've always bounced back and got a win straight after it. So it's important we go and do that again."
[BBC]
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Never in his wildest dreams did the striker expect to be two games from Premiership glory when he ended a summer of speculation by signing a new three-year deal last summer.
But here he is. The prize is tantalisingly close. Hearts can even be crowned champions tonight – if they beat Falkirk at home and Celtic lose at Motherwell – and captain Shankland is adopting a tunnel-vision approach.
"There's obviously a lot to think about and take in. It's an exciting opportunity," said Shankland.
"There's a lot of talk around the place, and even outwith the building, everywhere you go, people like to talk to you about it.
"So it isn't easy, as professionals we've got a job to do. First and foremost we need to go and win the Falkirk game.
"There will be nerves, it's totally normal. You're a human being after all and when you get this close to achieving something great it's only normal to have them.
"It's just about controlling them, but throughout the season we've dealt with that really well. There's been all sorts of different pressures. We've been behind in a lot, we've had to come back.
"I've said to the boys a few times, we've dealt with every position you could possibly be in this season. We've dealt with it and we've come through it. That needs to continue."
Hearts remain unbeaten at Tynecastle this season, winning 14 of their 18 league matches. And Shankland is adamant the anger and frustration of being denied a penalty in last weekend's 1-1 draw at Motherwell – where Alexandros Kyziridis was clipped in the box by Tawanda Maswanhise – has been consigned to history.
"You need to move on," he said. "Throughout the season there's a lot of moments that become tough and you feel a wee bit down, but you need to move on quickly.
"We've done that really well this season. Every time we've suffered a wee setback, we've always bounced back and got a win straight after it. So it's important we go and do that again."
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[BBC]
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