Former Hearts player says he is now in the 'form of his life'

Former Hearts centre-back Conor Shaughnessy has detailed how, at 27 years of age, he is now in the form of his life for EFL League One side Portsmouth.

The left-handed centre-back was on loan at Tynecastle in 2019 from Leeds United and made eleven appearances in his six month loan spell for the Jambos. His debut came in January 2019 when he started for Hearts in their 1-0 win over Livingston and he received a 2018-19 Scottish Cup Runners Up medal after being named on the bench for the final against Celtic.

Shaughnessy was then sent out on loan to Mansfield Town and Burton Albion before signing with Rochdale, Burton Albion (again) and most recently Portsmouth in 2023.

Since joining Pompey, Shaughnessy has secured 19 appearances and scored twice as the Blues hope to secure promotion to the Championship next season.

Speaking to Edinburgh News' sister site The News, the 27-year-old ex-Jambo detailed: "My form at other clubs has been good, but not as good as it has been here. I would say this is the best form of my career.

"This is clearly the best run of games for myself in terms of wins. My form has been good, I’m quite consistent, so I’m happy. I can definitely still do better and hopefully we’ll see that as the season progresses.

Talking about his previous experiences at clubs, the former Irish youth international said: "Over the last few years I’ve had a lot of games where one week I was playing at the back and the next week I was playing in midfield, I've had a lot of inconsistency in terms of position on the pitch.

"That probably meant I wasn’t as consistent in my performances, so this is the first time I’ve played a good block of games in the same position. Now I’m learning and trying to perfect that position.

"That consistency of playing in the same position, featuring in every game, and having a manager who believes in you is massive.

"If you ask any player, they will tell you they need a run of games to be able to perform. In my mind, if I play 10 games in one position then I feel so much better, rather than playing a couple here and then getting moved around"