Hamilton: I need games to reach the next level
Hearts goalkeeper has grown frustrated by lack of chances at the Tynecastle club
THE Hearts goalkeeper Jack Hamilton thwarted France’s brilliant wonderkids with a series of fantastic saves for Scotland Under 21s and now he wants to prove to Robbie Neilson he deserves his chance at Tynecastle too.
Ricky Sbragia’s side were taught a lesson in Angers in their European Championship qualifiers as a supremely talented young French side dismantled them. It would have been much, much worse than the eventual 2-0 defeat if it wasn’t for Hamilton, who seemed to be keeping Scotland in it single-handedly as he made string after string of quality saves.
He was eventually outdone by Utrecht striker Sebastien Haller who netted a double and the Hearts back-up to Neil Alexander was hyper-critical of his role in the second goal when he couldn’t hold a ferocious shot from classy PSG playmaker Adrien Rabiot, which allowed Haller to score.
But if it hadn’t been for Hamilton’s performance, Scotland could have suffered a serious thrashing. It was a rare outing for the youngster, who admits he’s become frustrated at his lack of playing time under Neilson.
He admitted he needs to get more first-team action, after featuring just twice for Hearts this season, both in League Cup ties.
Hamilton said: “For me, it’s game-time I need. That’s the first time I’ve really had game-time in front of a good crowd and a great atmosphere and that’s what I need in a game that means something, instead of Under-20s football. That’s the first time I’ve played in as big a game as this since the last time I was on Scotland duty. It’s been hard and I just need games.
“It’s been hard because we’ve got Neil Alexander and he’s been really good for us. It’s just about learning as a young goalkeeper. It’s hard for me to breakthrough and it’s hard to wait for a chance, so it’s about watching the people in front of you and trying to learn from them
“Every day in training you are always focused and you always prepare each week as if you are going to be playing on a Saturday because you never know what’s going to happen. Under-20s football is all right and it’s good to get a game, but nothing beats playing a game of football in a match situation because that’s where you learn most.
“I need more football to improve and I need game time to take myself to the next level.”
The gulf in class between the two nations was a depressingly large chasm. But the French could rely on the likes of Rabiot – who is surely an absolute star in the making – as well as Rennes superkid Ousmane Dembele, who is set for a big money to one of Europe’s elite this summer.
But with a match against Northern Ireland in Paisley to come on Tuesday, Hamilton insists the young Scots can learn from playing such quality.
He pointed out: “I’m never happy with a defeat and it was a hard one to take, but it’s a learning curve. When you look at the players they’ve got, that’s the level we’ve got to aim for.
“In the first half it seemed like one of those night and things were coming off for me. But as the second half went on, they just battered us and once they got their first goal, their tails went up and they quickly got their second as well
“I never like a losing a goal and the way it happened for their second goal, it came off me and they scored from the rebound. It’s part of the learning process for me because I’ll need to go away, watch it and learn from it.
“You can’t really say we can hold our heads high after a defeat, but that’s the level we want to get to. We have another important game on Tuesday night and hopefully we can kick on from here.”
Meanwhile, manager Sbragia reckoned his Scotland side were up against the best young group of players in the world.
He said: “France are the best side I have seen. The made four changes from the side which beat us earlier this season but it’s just the quality of their squad. The talent they have and the level of club where a lot of them are playing is so high.
“You look at the kid who is playing at Paris Saint-Germain, Adrien Rabiot, on television but it’s only when you watch him live that you realise he’s on another planet. But that’s what our guys need to achieve if they want to get to that level.
“There’s quality throughout, their centre-halves are excellent, the big boy in attack Sebastien Haller is a handful.
“The one thing you see which stands out more than anything is their power and pace.
“Those qualities combined with technical ability and you see what the French have got.
“When the first goal went in we thought about changing it but it is difficult with the personnel we had as France were no longer chasing things. They had been getting frustrated the longer the game went on.
“We thought we could maybe steal it but unfortunately for us it didn’t happen.”