Craig Levein likes the look of his new Hearts squad - although one position remains a headache

With just a week and a half to go until Hearts kick-off their Scottish Premiership, Craig Levein is relatively content about the way his team is shaping up.

With just a week and a half to go until Hearts kick-off their Scottish Premiership, Craig Levein is relatively content about the way his team is shaping up.

The manager’s most pressing matter at present is to source an adequate replacement for the all-action holding midfielder, Peter Haring. Beyond this conundrum at the base of his engine room, however, the manager has plenty reason for optimism following a couple of promising Betfred Cup displays.

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The ongoing progress of several fleet-footed young players and the return to fitness of others has reduced the need for an extensive recruitment drive this summer. Craig Halkett has arrived to enhance a backline that was already in pretty good order, while Conor Washington and Jamie Walker have been added to bolster the attacking department. Steven Naismith, who is set to re-sign next week, should have a unifying effect on the whole team.

“It’s always an anxious time of the year,” said Levein, when asked how preparations for the season are going.

“I feel the centre midfield area is a little bit of a worry because we’ve lost Peter and Arnaud Djoum. Peter will obviously be back in a couple of months but it gives us a little bit of a problem in that defensive midfield area.

“We’ve got a bundles of attacking players, which was a problem last year. That one position in midfield is a slight worry but I don’t want to rush into anything because I’ll only have one shot at getting the right one.

“At times this season, I want to play 4-4-2, and to do that I need a strong, robust, aggressive player in there and that’s obviously not Andy Irving or Harry Cochrane at the moment.

“Olly Bozanic and Sean Clare will play together against Stenhousemuir and they’ve done quite well when they’ve played. If I was really worried about it I’d have done something by now but I’ve been in the fortunate position this summer of not having to rush anything.

“Everything’s been well thought out and well planned. I’ve had three or four players in who I was going to sign but then I didn’t quite get the right vibe, so it’s good to be in a position where I can take my time and not have to panic and bring somebody in at the last minute.”

Levein believes the arrival of a solid holding midfielder will help Clare as he gets to grips with playing central midfield in a 4-4-2. The 22-year-old Englishman was used in a more advanced role last season and Levein believes he is equipped to take on extra responsibility now that he has had time to acclimatise to Scottish football.

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“I’m happy with the way Sean’s adapting to playing in the two,” he said. “For me, his focus now is on winning second balls. I know he can go forward, I know he can score, I know he’s got a good range of passing, but to play in a two you need to be able to do the dirty work. It’s about getting that out of him.

“He’s come back in good condition. His pre-season work’s been good. He’s definitely fitter, he’s much improved on that front. If Peter was available, him and Sean would dovetail perfectly in there for us. That side of things is all about getting that player in (to cover for Haring). That will help a lot.”

Attack is in good order, with Washington, Uche Ikpeazu, Steven MacLean and Aidan Keena - who Levein has been impressed with this summer - vying for the striker positions and Walker, Naismith, Jake Mulraney, Callumn Morrison, Dario Zanatta, Anthony McDonald all available to play wide or in attacking midfield.

“The next problem is how I’m going to get them all in the team,” he smiled. “I’m in the fortunate position now of having a number of good attacking players.

“It doesn’t matter where Naisy plays, that’s the beauty of it. He can play off the left, off the right, centre midfield, up front, or off the striker. And I’ve got Walker who can do the same. Jake is more of a winger and Morrison is the same. Then I’ve got McDonald, who is a bit like Walker in terms of his style of play. Zanatta’s done quite well as well so there’s a whole load of options.”

This new-found array of attackers has allowed Levein to play 4-4-2 in the Betfred Cup this summer.

“That was what we worked on before the Betfred Cup started,” said the manager. “There are two other systems we’ll play this season that we haven’t touched on yet but we’ll obviously do that before the season starts.

“There will be times we might play three at the back. Again, I’m quite fortunate that, touch wood, with everyone being fit and well, we’ve got a really strong back line. We’ll also get Ben Garuccio back, probably around November time, which will boost that group.”

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