DON'T LOSE HEART KID

Wilson progress has stalled of late but boss Del insists he can still flourish with coaches’ help

- BY DARREN JOHNSTONE

HEARTS boss Derek McInnes insists he still thinks highly of James Wilson - despite the teen's lack of game time.

Wilson made his first Premiership appearance in 10 outings with a four-minute cameo from the bench in last Sunday's 1-0 loss at Aberdeen.

With a wealth of attacking options, McInnes did not even name the 18-year-old in the squad for the five games prior to Pittodrie.

After making his Scotland debut back in March, Wilson's progress has stalled.

But McInnes hopes he and his coaching staff can help develop Wilson to a point where he is ready for more first team action.

McInnes said: “Its just hard to get everybody involved. We took in the Scotland Under-21 matches for James. He didn't play the second game, which was a bit of a disappointment but we got the benefit of watching training every day.

“With young players, sometimes there can be ups and downs. Throughout it all, he’s a really hard worker, really conscientious and a boy that we speak to regularly about his game and things that he can improve on.