McDonald earned trust of team-mates, says Levein

Hearts manager Craig Levein was confident Fife teenager Anthony McDonald had earned the trust of his teammates before pitching him in against Dundee on Tuesday night.

The Kirkcaldy-born youngster set up both goals in a 2-0 victory on his debut – the first a brilliant flicked through ball for Isma Goncalves – while fellow 16-year-old Harry Cochrane joined him in midfield after Arnaud Djoum went off with a knock.

Levein views both teenagers as members of his first-team squad.

“I believe in them,” he said. “The first-team players believe in them. They train every day with the first team. It’s not like they have been parachuted in out of nowhere and our players don’t know them.

“They have been training with the first team since the summer, since they came in from school.

“The players know them and trust them, they will give Harry and Anthony the ball in really tight areas and expect them to deal with it. And they do.

“They have surprised me a little bit by the fact they are playing at this age. I did expect them to be absolutely first-team players.”

Levein, whose side have secured consecutive wins and clean sheets ahead of Sunday’s visit of Celtic, added: “It was a good night for them but also the rest of the team.

“We kept a clean sheet, Christophe (Berra) gets on the score sheet along with Isma.

“They are feeling good, which is more important to me than Anthony and Harry feeling good.

“We have had a tough couple of months and I’m hoping that’s us turned the corner. We’ll see.”