James Wilson, a striker for Teenage Hearts, is ready to challenge for a spot in the starting lineup the following season after developing quickly in the past several months. He advanced from the club’s under-18 team to the B team and then the senior team in the previous season, and this summer he will have the opportunity to solidify his place in head coach Steven Naismith’s squad.
Wilson signed his first professional contract with Hearts last year, turning down offers from English Premier League teams. During the Scottish Cup victory against Spartans in January, he made his debut as a 16-year-old. At the age of 17, the Scotland youth internationalist is steadily improving as he trains daily at Riccarton with the first team.
Naismith hopes to see a number of youth academy grads fight for a spot in the starting lineup for the upcoming campaign. He informed the Edinburgh News of Wilson’s development after extensively observing the player for the B squad.
James has improved this season, and since roughly September, he has practiced with the first team every day, according to Naismith. “He’s played every bounce game, which is perhaps a little faster than he was prepared for. Given his personality and style of play, we anticipated that he would leap up.
“Now, he plays like a member of the first team when you watch him in training. He moves and handles the ball with the dexterity of a first-team player, makes the correct passes, and exudes composure. He still needs games, in my opinion.
He was still learning how to handle that physicality and be involved in the game all the time in the B team matches until a few months ago. That’s a huge leap for him. He joined the B team at the age of 16. I feel like he’s started to have an impression on the games over the past six or eight weeks. That is evident from the goals he is scoring.
Since the beginning of the year, Wilson has made six appearances for Hearts’ B squad and scored 11 goals. Naismith described his expectations for the child in the upcoming months. He went on, “He has demonstrated his hunger by doing what I asked him to.” James is merely eager to advance thus we need to see to it that he is given the chance. I felt he was needed in that game, therefore he made his debut against the Spartans. Since Lawrence Shankland was out, I believed he was the one on the bench with the most potential to influence things.
“I expect James to be a member of the starting lineup and be given consideration for every game if he performs well during the preseason and makes it into the first team roster. Finding that balance and maintaining the players’ growing confidence are key.
“You don’t want him to experience a sudden high after making the first team only to be sidelined for a month.” Then, his self-assurance is eroding. The goal is to keep him moving up the curve so that each time he reaches a milestone, it propels him forward to the subsequent phase. I intend to be pushing a few others at the beginning of the upcoming season, James being one example.
