LEWIS NEILSON enjoyed a fine start to life at Hearts, playing an important role as the men from the capital secured a 3-2 win over St Johnstone in his first start for the club, and the defender remains determined to be his own man.
The 20-year-old centre-back played in the heart of the back three and looked comfortable in possession, regularly driving with the ball out from the back and showing off an impressive range of passing as he picked up the man-of-the-match award.
Graham Carey’s opportunistic strike early on gave the visitors the lead at Tynecastle before quick-fire goals from Kye Rowles and Liam Boyce turned the contest on its head on Sunday afternoon.
Saints restored parity through an Andy Considine header shortly after the restart before Lawrence Shankland stroked in the winner for the Gorgie side via a penalty with 10 minutes to go.
Neilson’s assured display and summer transfer from Dundee United invited comparisons with John Souttar, who completed a move from Hearts to Rangers during the close season, from his manager Robbie Neilson.
While flattered by the link, Neilson insists he wants to be judged on his own individual merits as the centre-back revealed his ambitions to one day make the journey south of the border and test himself in the English top flight.
“To hear the gaffer saying that is nice as John is a brilliant role model and someone I look up to,” Neilson said of his manager’s comments.
“He has came from Dundee United to Hearts, the same as me, played first-team football and now has a move to Rangers. Hopefully he does well there.
“It’s great to be compared to him but I want to be my own player. I want to be the full package as a centre-half, be good with the ball and without it. I want to kick on in my career and play at the very top level that I can.
“I would love to go south and play in the English Premier League. I know that’s a big ambition but I have to produce it here first if I want to achieve that.
“I look at it one game at a time and I am fully focused on Hearts and stay in this team first. The dream is long in the future but everyone has to be ambitious.”
A move to the bright lights of the Premier League might well be some way off in the distance but in the here and now, Neilson has done his case for more first-team minutes little harm with his display against Saints.
Initially deployed in the middle of a back three, the youngster finished the game in a centre-back pairing with Peter Haring after Rowles and Nathaniel Atkinson suffered injuries and had to be brought off.
The chopping and changing meant that Neilson’s full debut was far from plain sailing but the youngster adapted well throughout – and hopes that his performance will lead to further exposure in the first team.
“I enjoyed the game, it was my first game at Tynecastle in front of the fans,” he said. “We didn’t start well but we responded really well and so did the fans, they never got on our backs and that was massive. We came away with three points and that was a must do for us.
“I was happy with my performance. I was confident I could come into this team but I have had to be patient. I hadn’t started a game but I look at boys like Craig Halkett, Stephen Kingsley and Kye Rowles and I knew I could play with them.
“I did well especially with how many times the backline changed during the game. We had to adapt and I hope it isn’t like that every week! It wasn’t ideal.
“I think though it shows the strength we have in the squad this season, we have boys who can come off the bench and perform as well as the ones that started. We have boys who are happy to play in a number of positions as well which is great.
“I am only 19 and I have to realise my chance might not come at the start of the season but when I get an opportunity I need to try to stay in the team.
“Hopefully I have done enough to do that. But if not I won’t be too frustrated and I will stay grounded. I am good mates with all the boys but I want to take the chance when it comes.”
