HEARTS manager Craig Levein was confident 16-year-olds Harry Cochrane and Anthony McDonald had earned the trust of their team-mates before pitching them in together against Dundee.
McDonald set up both goals in a 2-0 victory on his debut – the first a brilliant flicked through ball for Isma Goncalves – while Cochrane joined him in midfield after Arnaud Djoum went off with a knock.
Cochrane has now made seven appearances and 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 added: “We have had a tough couple of months and I’m hoping that’s us turned the corner. We’ll see.”
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