Hearts' Liam Boyce copying Alan Shearer, bond with Lawrence Shankland and why football works a certain way

Anxious and tentative, Tynecastle Park was a strange place for long spells on Saturday. Supporters grew irritated and tense the longer Hearts and St Johnstone remained goalless. Even when ball struck net on the hour, there was an uneasiness as people wondered if VAR would intervene. It was that kind of day.

Liam Boyce's shot deflected off Lawrence Shankland's leg en route past St Johnstone goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov to win the game for Hearts. Shankland was awarded the goal as Saints players protested that he was in an offside position and interfering with play. Referee John Beaton gave the goal, and relief abounded.

"I was saying to Shanks that he scores enough so he could have given me it. But it’s just the way it is," smiled Boyce. "As long as it goes in the net and we win. These are tough games. Teams come here and it’s difficult to break them down. We saw that with Livingston when Kenny [Vargas] came on and scored at the end. It was always going to take something like that to get a goal and settle us down. I’m just happy it went in, if anything.

"I knew that it hit him [Shankland]. I was just running away celebrating, trying to do the Alan Shearer and see if I could get the goal myself. But I knew right away that it had hit him."

Had Boyce's shot ricocheted off a defender and hit the net, he would not have gone down as an own goal. "I know but it doesn’t matter. That’s not how football works," he said. "I’m just happy that we got a goal and we won the game. I was sort of thinking it could be offside. With those when you are running in you run to try and meet the ball behind the defensive line so when I shot he might have been offside. Thankfully, he wasn’t.

"At the time I thought I saw someone in behind him. Any time we played in behind them they were dropping really deep. That’s why the cutback eventually worked. I was just hoping it was onside. I thought I caught a glimpse because when I shot I looked up, I saw it hitting Shanks and I saw someone. With VAR lines these days it can be your shoulder offside. So it was a bit nervy but thankfully it was a goal."

The 1-0 victory completed three successive Hearts league victories for the first time since January 2022, as head coach Steve Naismith pointed out afterwards. "I didn’t actually realise that until Naisy told us before the game. We know we are a good team and that’s the sort of thing we should be doing regularly," admitted Boyce.

"We need to build on it now, be consistent and be better in everything we are trying to do. We need to get better with everything we are trying to do, and pick up the right spaces and know which way each other plays, and the longer you keep the starting XI together the more you can build that. It’s good we’ve done that. I don’t know the last time we won four in a row but hopefully it’s next week [at Kilmarnock]."

On the increasing unrest within the home crowd during the match, Boyce gave the opinion of a player who has seen it all before in nearly four years at Tynecastle. "That’s what happens when you play for a big club. The fans want to see goals, goals, goals, every time you go forward, but football doesn’t work like that. The Livingston game here was the same.

"Teams come and they are good at defending and it’s hard to break them down. You have to keep doing the right things and believe that it’s eventually going to pay off. We don’t want to pass it backwards but that’s what you need to do sometimes.

"To bring their whole team to the side of the pitch you need to do it as quick as possible to get it to the other side to give someone a bit of time and space. That’s when you make stuff happen. You need to get used to it when you play for a big club. That’s just the way it is."

The Northern Irishman is enjoying being back in the starting line-up. He spent a period on the substitutes' bench following his recovery from an anterior cruciate ligament injury sustained in August 2022. "Obviously as a footballer you want to be playing," he conceded. "I feel I can help the team. It doesn’t matter if it’s goals or helping us play from the back or showing for the ball. I’ll do anything to help the team and it’s just good to be in and part of it and it’s paying off and we are winning games. Hopefully that continues."

The injury cut short a burgeoning attacking partnership with Shankland which Boyce is only too happy to resume. "Yeah, I missed it for a year. I was sitting watching him score goals and I couldn't wait to get back. He has surprised me almost more than anyone with how good he is with the ball at his feet.

"You just see him scoring goals all the time and you think that’s all he can do but if he drops in, I’ll go higher, and we are fine-tuning that now. Our understanding is slowly getting better and better as the weeks go on. Hopefully that continues because it will be good for us."