Craig Gordon hails Hearts duo after St Mirren cup win with one ‘so laid back’ and the other a ‘nuisance’

Add as preferred source on Google

Hearts are a side transformed under Neil Critchley and their good form continued on Monday evening in Paisley.

The Jambos overcame St Mirren 4-2 on penalties after a ding-dong Scottish Cup fifth round encounter that finished 1-1 after 90 minutes and extra time.

Hearts are now eight games unbeaten in all competitions since their disappointing Edinburgh derby defeat to Hibs on Boxing Day.

Not to mention, 14 goals have been plundered in over the last four games with strikers Lawrence Shankland, Elton Kabangu and James Wilson all firing.

At the opposite end, veteran goalkeeper Craig Gordon is keeping things tight at the back and was crucial in the penalty shootout versus the Buddies.

The 42-year-old saved St Mirren’s first two penalties to set his side on their way to the quarter-finals, with Hearts meeting Dundee at Tynecastle.

Gordon was praised by Critchley after the game – but the stopper has been keen to dish out his own compliments to two Hearts stars who delivered at the SMiSA Stadium.

• READ MORE: What Neil Critchley has said about Hearts summer transfers with forward planning in place

Gordon loves James Wilson’s ‘innocence of youth’

With Gordon doing his job on the goal line during the shootout, wonderkid forward Wilson was successfully carrying out his duties at the penalty spot.

The 17-year-old had the guts to take the first penalty of the night and Gordon loved the risk Wilson took in converting his strike past Zach Hemming.

He also labelled the youngster a nuisance and with five senior goals for Hearts already this season, Gordon hopes Tynecastle is Wilson’s home for years to come.

Gordon said: “Not only that, he hammered it in the top corner! That’s just the innocence of youth to step up there and probably take that much risk with your penalty to hit it high into the net like that. I don’t think many goalkeepers are going to save that.

“It was a fantastic strike. He comes on now and you expect something to happen. He’s lively. He’ll run defenders. He’ll make a nuisance of himself. He’s got a few goals this season.

“For somebody that young to be able to come in and make the impact that he has already, not just on the pitch but in the changing room as well. He’s a real prospect. I hope he develops and stays at Hearts for a while yet. He’s some talent.”

Hearts returnee Calem Nieuwenhof ‘so laid back’

Aussie midfielder Calem Nieuwenhof was the other to grab headlines on Monday night as he marked his injury comeback with the Hearts equaliser that sent the game to extra-time.

Nieuwenhof suffered a serious hamstring tear last March and initially, it was thought the injury would only keep him out for 12 weeks.

However, it turned into almost a year on the sidelines for the 23-year-old, who admitted it was ‘tough’ and ‘frustrating’.

But he’s back with a bang and Gordon made sure he gave Nieuwenhof a shoutout.

Gordon continued: “You come on to a game and you’re 1-0 down. Not long to go to try and help turn it around. He was fantastic. He’s so laid back. I would never worry about him in any situation.

“There was absolutely no way he was going to be fazed by coming back into that sort of action to help the team out. He’s come up with a hugely vital goal for us.

“He’s a great player to have coming back and being fresh at this stage of the season. Absolutely delighted for him to get a goal. He hasn’t got too many but that was a very important one.

“Hopefully, he can continue to kick on and get more minutes because that’s an area of the pitch where it’s great to have somebody else coming back out of the fold at this stage.”