Templeton believes he is now ready to fulfil potential

David Templeton could have been a Scotland player by now.

He should certainly have been one of the first names on Hearts' team-sheet last season, and he would have expected to be involved with the side who eclipsed Hibernian at Hampden in the Scottish Cup final.

But the skilful winger was hampered by injury and inconsistent form and failed to build on the previous season when he was twice named SPL Young Player of the Month. Worst of all, he didn't even make the bench for the Hampden showpiece.

"It was very disappointing. I was struggling with a double hernia so I could see why he [manager Paulo Sergio] didn't select me but I felt I was fit enough to play my part. I didn't cope well with being left out. I was happy for the boys but when I saw them going up to lift the Scottish Cup I felt gutted not to be involved."

The 23-year-old believes he is finally ready to fulfil his potential this season under new manager John McGlynn, who he worked under at Raith Rovers during a loan spell. "I'm enjoying it. It's a fresh start for me and I'm enjoying training. I like the way he plays; it suits the wingers so that's good and I'm looking forward to this season. I want to play well and nail down my place in the team every week. I also want to stay clear of injury and get the consistency that I have been missing."

Steve Lomas, meanwhile, enters his second term as St Johnstone manager and will be praying he can guide his small squad safely through the term. That means staying clear of injuries.

"You need a bit of luck, there are no two ways about it," he said. "As Terry Brown [former West Ham chairman] used to say, give me a lucky manager before a good manager. It is important that everyone is healthy. We learned last season that whenever we had three or four of our starters out, we struggled. I suppose that a lot of teams would say that but especially ourselves.

Lomas, who pays no heed to suggestions Hearts will be weaker this season after losing several first-team regulars, will decide today whether to hand a debut to Rowan Vine, the former QPR player, who scored twice in St Johnstone's 2-1 friendly win over Bristol City last weekend.

Taken from the Herald