Sky Sports Lawrence Shankland won’t want to hear this but here’s what Hearts must do for his own good.

The Jambos star has endured a miserable spell in front of goal this season.

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Neil Critchley has been persuaded to remove goal-shy striker Lawrence Shankland from the firing line on Thursday night. Shankland, a Hearts icon, is suffering the worst goal drought of his career, having scored only once in 19 games this season. It’s a huge contrast from last season, when the forward swept up every Player of the Year award after scoring an astonishing 33 goals for club and country.

Shankland admitted over the weekend that he intends to depart Tynecastle as his contract expires in six months, with contract discussions presently off the table. The uncertainty surrounding his future may be a factor in his profligacy in front of goal, and after missing a slew of chances in the weekend’s defeat against Celtic, former Jambos star Ryan Stevenson believes Shankland should be dropped for the Europa League match against Cercle Brugge.

He told the Daily Record: “It’s Cercle Brugge on Thursday and it’s worth dropping Lawrence Shankland for that one. He wouldn’t want to hear it but I would. No one can sing Lawrence’s praises higher than I have over the last 18 months or so. But right now, I wouldn’t play him for his own benefit as much as anything.

“I’ve been dropped by managers who said, ‘It will give you a little of freshness, it might assist you’. As a player, I would have told the management to (expletive) off. You want to play every game. Lawrence will remain the same. However, I believe that separating myself from it would be the greatest option.

“As for Kenny Vargas, I’ve been in a situation when I said something that backfired. I agree with Cammy Devlin’s comment about him, ‘Do your talking on the pitch’. And it all comes down to working hard for the jersey first.

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