Beware Law of averages
Sheerin fears angry Shanks
PAUL SHEERIN watched a young Lawrence Shankland shrug off setbacks at Aberdeen to establish himself as Scotland’s deadliest marksman. And his old Pittodrie coach is worried the Hearts skipper will be looking to bounce back from his sickener with Scotland when Kilmarnock head to Tynecastle this weekend.
Rugby Park assistant boss Sheerin was Shankland’s Under-20s gaffer when the striker joined the Dons from Queen’s Park aged just 17.
He was paired up top with Cammy Smith and it proved a profitable partnership for the Reds reserves, with Shankland’s 29-goal haul firing the Granite City outfit to an SPFL Youth League title in 2015.
But while Shanks was red-hot for the kids, he found it far harder to catch fire at first-team level at a time when Aberdeen had a prolific Adam Rooney scorching defences.
He didn’t let the Dons disappointment hold him back – and is this season on course to hit 30 goals for club and country.
The Gorgie captain – who has 28 so far – would be one closer to that milestone had he tucked away a golden chance in last week’s 4-0 hiding from the Netherlands in Amsterdam. That missed opportunity has been taken by some harsh critics as proof that Shankland is not international class. But that’s now how Sheerin views it as he warned Derek McInnes’ men to beware a backlash in the capital. The Killie coach said: “I don’t agree with that at all. For Scotland squads, you’ve got to be in form to get the call-up. The fact Lawrence was recognised and in Steve Clarke’ squad is thanks to his form and I don’t think that will change.
“I don’t think the chance he missed will affect him because he’s scoring too many goals to allow that.
“I’d like to take credit for the way his career has gone but I’m sure there’s plenty of coaches who have been involved with Lawrence at some stage in his career.
“When I went in to take the Under-20s at Aberdeen, he was excellent. He was still young and it was him and Cammy Smith as our front two. Between the two of them, they scored something like 50-odd goals.
“In terms of credit, that’s all due to himself.
“It obviously didn’t quite work out at Aberdeen but mentally, for him to go and get himself back up the levels is a sheer credit to himself.
“He was still young at Aberdeen and missed a couple of chances when he went into the first team.
“It never quite worked out and he had to go and find himself and he’s certainly gone and done that.
“The range of goals – where he scores them, penalties, in the box, out the box – he’s a constant threat.
“We’re well aware of that, it’s not just him obviously, but we know at any given time he can turn a game with one bit of brilliance.”
Third-placed Hearts hold a sizeable 11-point advantage over Killie one place back but a defeat to McInnes’ men would threaten to leave the Jambos faithful suffering from flashbacks to last season’s end-of-season collapse, when they blew a similar lead as Aberdeen snatched third.
But Sheerin insists the priority is securing the win which will guarantee Kilmarnock a first top-six finish since Steve Clarke’s side came third in 2019.
He said: “It’s about us and three points. If we can get them, it cements our top-six place so that’s the most important thing.”