Ryan McGowan Praises Hearts Squad’s Reaction to Shankland’s Goal-Scoring Return

Lawrence Shankland (centre) concluded his goal drought during Hearts’ victory against Dundee on Saturday. According to former Tynecastle defender Ryan McGowan, the Hearts squad’s response after Shankland ended his scoring dry spell indicates the team consistently maintained complete confidence in their captain. The Scotland international striker had faced scrutiny from certain supporters this season following a two-month period without scoring. However, Shankland, who registered 31 goals for Hearts in the previous season, achieved his initial goals since late September during Saturday’s league triumph over Dundee. During an appearance on the BBC’s Scottish Football Podcast, McGowan remarked: “What I really like is you could see everybody in the squad was absolutely delighted for him. “It puts to bed that little bit of a narrative people were saying about his attitude and body language being disappointing. “When strikers aren’t scoring, fans and pundits start looking to see if there’s anything they can pick up on.”But I think it has purely been goals that has been missing from his game. I think his link-up play and some of his overall performances have still been very good.”