Hamilton Accies boss John Rankin says it’s unlikely that Hearts star Connor Smith will make a return to the club this season, and he won’t rely on loan moves to bolster his squad.
Rankin reckons winger Smith will play a role at the Tynecastle club in the Premiership this season, which will ultimately take him out of Hamilton’s price bracket.
But he says having players at the club who are recognisably Hamilton players is going to be important as they bid to bounce back to the Championship.
Smith, 21, made a huge impact at New Douglas Park last season, but Rankin says that’s not an avenue he’s looking at.
He said: “I love Connor, I think we all saw what potential Connor has, but I imagine he will go back to Hearts on a new contract.
“He’s one of their players with real potential, a Scotland under-21 international, and we saw his quality when he came in.
“I’ve known Connor since he was 14, seen how he has developed, and he has huge potential.
“I would love to have him, but I don’t think it’s right to speak about a player that is potentially going to play in the Premiership this season for Hearts.”
Rankin has so far brought in defenders Lee Kilday, Jackson Longridge and Kyle MacDonald, wing-back Stephen Hendrie, midfielder Jamie Barjonas, winger Euan Henderson and striker Kevin O’Hara.
Loan moves were used to good effect last season, but Rankin says that’s not on the cards.
He said: “We won’t be reliant on [the loan market], that’s a definite.
“We want to try and bring through our own players and bring them in.
“There will be somebody who possibly comes up where you’re thinking ‘that’s a really good opportunity’.
“If you look at how successful Connor’s was for him as a player, scoring six goals in 19 games and making the impact he did, then players will obviously want to use that as an option as well.
“But it’s not something that I want to overly rely on, I’d rather they were our players – that’s why we went and did our business really early this season.
“Having a squad that people know right from the beginning is going to be here becomes important – knowing they’re our players and, let’s be honest, that a lot of them have got a point to prove somewhere or another.
“But the ones that we’ve brought in, I feel they can bring a bit to the team and the squad where there’s quality and energy at the same time.
“Hopefully we can knit them together really quickly and start to produce performances and results.”
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