I’m the Clare favourite for penalties

HAMILTON v HEARTS EUAN McLEAN

sport@dailyrecord.co.uk in the summer from Sheffield Wednesday, the 22-year-old feels he is now starting to find his feet.

He added: “That’s one of the main reasons I came here – I knew the manager and staff would back me even if things weren’t going to plan.

“It was always going to be difficult coming up to a different style of football with an injury. The manager understood that and has really shown faith in me, as have all the staff.

“Without that, things may not be where they are now. I may not have been able to progress.

“Hopefully I can keep repaying them and we can keep getting points.”

That faith from the manager has only made it tougher for Clare to hear the criticism levelled at Levein from some sections of the Hearts support during a recent downturn in results.

He added: “It’s always difficult for fans, they only see things at face value and sometimes it’s not the manager’s fault, we have to take the blame for some of the results.

“But as the captain of the ship sometimes he gets the blame.

“He is the right man for the job, we are still in with a great chance of getting to Europe through the league and we are in another semi-final.

“Hopefully they will be happy to eat their words if we are able to get into Europe and reach the Cup Final.”