With some 31 players listed on the club’s official first team list, Hearts manager Craig Levein has an embarrassment of riches as the Tynecastle side prepare for tomorrow’s first competitive outing of the season against Cove Rangers.
Among those looking to be handed game time in the Betfred Cup Group C clash with the reigning Highland League champions are the 11 summer arrivals, including Scotland internationalist Steven Naismith.
However, when it comes to paring down that vast number, Levein’s formula is simple. The former Scotland boss insists he will select his starting XI on form, not reputation.
Read more: Hibernian's John McGinn keen on Celtic move as more negotiations expected
“We have loads of options just now and people are finding their place in the pecking order after pre-season,” said Levein, whose 10 other signings are Zdenek Zlamal, Peter Haring, Ben Garuccio, Olly Lee, Oliver Bozanic, Bobby Burns, Ryan Edwards, Jake Mulraney, Uche Ikpeazu and Steven MacLean.
“I’m pretty much looking to be using the players I feel have done well in the games.
“We have a lot of players in. I’ve just looked at who is doing well in training and who is doing well in games. I’ll be playing the players who are in form.
“It might be some of the young ones playing, it might be older ones. It’s just who I feel is up to speed quicker. Everybody gets there at different times.
“I’m excited. There’s always a feeling of uncertainty when you bring so many players in. It takes time to get to know them as people, their strengths and weaknesses, and find out how emotional they are. That’s all going on just now and I’m learning more about them all the time.
“When you start a season, it’s important your big characters are up to speed.
“We can carry other things if that’s the case. We will be relying heavily on Christophe Berra, John Souttar, big Bobby [Zlamal] in goals, Kyle Lafferty and Steven MacLean – and boys like that who have been over the course before.”
Read more: Hibernian's John McGinn keen on Celtic move as more negotiations expected
A woeful League Cup campaign at the start of last season cost head coach Ian Cathro his job after the Tynecsatle outfit failed to reach the second round following a third place finish in Group B behind Dunfermline and Peterhead.
Hearts will also face Raith Rovers, Cowdenbeath and Inverness Caledonian Thistle this term and Levein insists an encouraging start in the cup can set the tone for a successful league season.
He added: “This, the Scottish Cup and the league are three major competitions.
“We can’t and won’t take any of those lightly.”
And Levein could still add to his squad before the transfer window closes at the end of August.
The former Scotland manager is keen to re-sign Manchester United left-back Demi Mitchell, who has been included in the Red Devils’ tour of America, on loan but refused to comment on any interest in former Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Sean Clare.
Conor Sammon yesterday joined Motherwell on a season-long loan deal, while midfielder Malaury Martin has been told he can leave.
He added: “We have six weeks till the window closes and other things might happen.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here