Braga's got the better song... but diet tips have got an extra tune out of me

Shankland dishes info on how he shaped up to be top hitman for high-flying Jambos as he dines out on linking up with fan favourite

- FRASER WILSON

LAWRENCE SHANKLAND has revealed how he tracked down a dietician to help turn him back into a lean, mean scoring machine.

The striker is on a feeding frenzy of goals, with Hearts soaring nine points clear at the top of the Premiership while he leads the scorer charts.

His 10 strikes across all competitions is nine better than this time last season and has seen Shankland win a Scotland recall for crunch World Cup qualifiers against Greece and Denmark.

It's not just the skipper's hunger in front of goal that has stood out, though.

Jambos boss Derek McInnes last week paid tribute to the frontman's running stats, which he said leads the way in maroon every week.

Shankland insists that has always been the case - despite finding himself the target for terracing jibes over his weight as Hearts struggled last season.

The 30-year-old now sits on 79 goals from 153 games for the club and, while his commitment was never in doubt, he says a few dietary tweaks have helped him find a new gear.

Ahead of tomorrow's clash with his old club Dundee United, Shankland said: "I build my game around trying to be resilient and being available for games. That's your priority as a player.