Goalkeepers and Lawrence Shankland high on Hearts agenda - 'he has dealt with it much better than I did'

There is fierce interest in who is – and who is not – playing as Hearts entertain old foes Dundee in rearranged league fixture at Tynecastle

A team sheet became the main talking point the last time Hearts played Dundee after a miscommunication meant the Dens Park side had to play someone from the start who was meant to be on the bench.

Irony of ironies, Luke McCowan, the player in question, scored what turned out to be the winning goal after his name was mistakenly included in the first XI. Although all was well that ended well on that occasion in August, it’s safe to predict Dundee officials will check and then double check the details before submitting their line-up when the teams meet again at Tynecastle tonight in a rearranged fixture, Storm Jocelyn permitting.

Even then, theirs won’t be the team sheet that is most fiercely scrutinised when the team lines emerge at around 6.30pm. Such is the level of interest Hearts could introduce a pay-per-view facility for this moment of revelation alone and earn a handy sum as the battle between Craig Gordon and Zander Clark enters a new phase. Rarely can the choice between two goalkeepers have been the subject of more robust deliberation – and intrigue.

Lawrence Shankland, right, could return to the Hearts starting XI against Dundee.

That said, Steven Naismith suggested it is all very straightforward. "From my point of view, all I can be is honest and that's what we've been," said the Hearts manager. He seemed to scotch one theory about Gordon, who returned after 13 months out against Spartans in the Scottish Cup on Saturday, being the 'cup 'keeper', which is an arrangement preferred by some clubs. "No, it's two experienced goalies fighting it out to play in the games,” said Naismith. “There is no ‘one for one and one for the other’. It will be down to how well you are doing and how well you are performing. That’s ultimately what it will come down to."

Naismith will inform Gordon and Clark on the day of the match who will wear the gloves as Hearts seek to secure the win that would take them eight points clear in third place. Seeking to analyse Clark’s body language was therefore pointless. The big ‘keeper sat eating lunch in the café on the other side of a flimsy partition shortly after Naismith hinted Clark would receive the nod in a pre-match press conference. The manager remarked on his performance levels having shot up since Gordon's return to training. "And they were high before," he added.

Clark certainly seemed unencumbered by concern over his position, exchanging banter with Aidan Denholm over some garish item of clothing the youngster had been gadding about in. "Don't worry, it’s not green," Denholm wanted to make clear to reporters. Gordon was elsewhere but another man of the moment, Lawrence Shankland, joined Clark for lunch after being given the all-clear to return to the building. His absence with illness from Hearts’ last-gasp win over Spartans had set tongues wagging and is another reason why the Hearts first XI will be so keenly awaited this evening. It seems certain the in-demand striker will return to the starting line-up after training on Monday.

How much longer Hearts can count on his services remains open to debate, however. Naismith shrugged when told that BBC Scotland pundit – and his former Scotland teammate – James McFadden had said he wasn't convinced by Naismith's replies after the manager was quizzed about the skipper’s situation before Saturday's televised clash with Spartans. Others, too, have wondered in public whether all is as being portrayed, with even the illness explanation having been met with considerable scepticism. Many presumed his absence at the weekend was so the striker would not be cup-tied in the event of a move to a rival Scottish club amid talks that are – or, indeed, are not – on-going about a new contract at Tynecastle.

Steven Naismith had a protracted transfer saga in 2007 when he joined Rangers.

Naismith was full of praise for the way Shankland has coped with the endless speculation. “You can’t get distracted by all that but Shanks has dealt with it much better than I did as his performances have shown,” he said. "All he can do is keep playing well and scoring goals.”

Naismith is able to empathise with his captain. He, too, once experienced the uncertainty of being a wanted man as the weeks – and minutes – ticked down towards a transfer window deadline. He ended up signing for Rangers from Kilmarnock at around 11.59pm on the last day of the summer window in 2007 having already submitted and later withdrawn a transfer request. "The uncontrollables are that he can’t dictate that there’s a move happening or there’s not a move happening," Naismith said. "The only thing he can do is concentrate on his football. Everything else takes care of itself. As a player, I found that hard to deal with.”

He was only 20-years-old at the time, in fairness. But Naismith admitted the interest had a negative effect on him. Shankland, by contrast, seems to be feeding off the attention to the extent he has scored in his last six appearances. The speculation has only intensified since he last played against Livingston. “The speculation will continue, 100 per cent, as long as he is doing well,” said Naismith. “I am not giving a judgement of what I think. I’m giving a clear picture of what could happen. Every option is open. If someone comes in with big money and he moves then he moves. If he wants to stay at the club he will sign a new contract and if he doesn’t then he will stay here because he’s got 18 months left.

“That’s factual,” he added. “One of those outcomes will happen. I just don’t want people to not think the club hasn’t done all it can to keep him and I also don’t want pressure to go on Lawrence when it’s unfair, really, when he’s got a decision to make (on the new contract) as an individual, as a person, as someone who is employed and needs to survive for him and his family.”