HEARTS head coach Ian Cathro insists it is business as usual for Jamie Walker amid reports of renewed interest from Premiership rivals Rangers.
The Ibrox club are reported to be lining up one final bid to prise the midfielder from Tynecastle this summer after earlier approaches were knocked back.
Rangers boss Pedro Caixinha watched Hearts play Newcastle in a friendly on Friday.
Speaking ahead of a trip to face Elgin in the Betfred Cup tonight, Cathro said: “A lot of people continue to say a lot of things, and that’s it really. There isn’t a situation.
“Jamie is happy, he is focused, he is training well, playing well. Like everyone really. The sun is out, we had a nice training session, not too much hard work, we have a nice wee bus journey, a game of cards, happy days.”
Cathro gave little away on reports that Hearts were stepping up attempts to persuade the 24-year-old to extend his contract beyond next summer.
He said: “I talk to Jamie almost every day, even on days off, because he is a player I’m fond of. He is a big talent, he is someone who at a point will move on to a bigger league, a bigger club and have opportunities to work towards the top levels of the game. Of that there is no doubt.
“And I’m very happy to be playing a part in how he progresses towards that.
“But, for now, people are just wasting their time.”
Hearts only won two of their final 16 matches last season and forward Isma Goncalves admits it is vital they get into a winning habit during their Betfred Cup campaign.
“It’s important to win, to get used to winning, because we finished the league last year with a lot of losses,” he said.
“When you win and win and win you get used to winning, it becomes normal.”
The Portuguese forward believes Hearts are in a good position to go on such a run after bringing in the likes of centre half Christophe Berra and striker Kyle Lafferty during the close season.
“You can see we are better than last year, so I think we are ready,” he said.
“We have been training for one month as a team and you can see in the games we played against Linfield and Newcastle that there were a lot of good things.
“The new players have brought a lot of quality, you can see in training there’s more quality and the players are more relaxed,” Goncalves added.
Goncalves won the competition with St Mirren in 2013 along with current Hearts assistant manager Austin MacPhee, and the pair are plotting a repeat triumph.
“I spoke with Austin two days ago and he said to me: ‘Are you ready to do it again?’ We want to do it.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here