Hearts captain Lawrence Shankland batted off speculation linking him with a move to Saudi Arabia after the Gorgie club booked their place in the Europa League play-offs.
The Scotland international scored alongside a double from his midfield teammate Cammy Devlin to ensure Hearts edged past Norwegian giants Rosenborg 4-3 on aggregate.
In a pulsating night at Tynecastle, the hosts came from behind to book their spot in the play-off round with a two-legged fixture against Greek outfit PAOK to come.
“It was a great night,” explained Shankland. “Obviously at the start of the game we were disappointed to lose the goal from a set play.
“We knew the objective of the game was to win it and at that point, we were still in the tie.
“Thankfully enough we went on and got enough goals to get us through the 90 minutes so we are delighted.
“PAOK will be a tough task but Rosenborg are a good team as well so we go again.”
Asked if he would be silly to think about the speculation linking him with a move to Saudi, Shankland continued: “That is it. I live in the here and now and I am enjoying my football and nights like this. I will keep enjoying them.”
Combative midfielder Cammy Devlin was immense in the middle of the park for Hearts and topped off his performance with two goals. He added: “Unbelievable. First of all I am so happy to get through.
“The objective was just to win the game and we knew patience would be key.
“Whether it took 90 or 120 minutes it didn’t matter. I thought every single player who started and came on were unbelievable.
“The crowd were also unbelievable so it is just perfect.
“We wanted to come out the blocks quick and losing a goal early is what got us going.
“From there even when we didn’t have the ball we felt in full control and the boys stuck in there for 90 minutes and it paid off.”
ENDS
