By Barry Anderson
Copyright scotsman
Elton Kabangu’s fight for game time at Hearts drew praise from head coach Derek McInnes following Saturday’s inspired win at Ibrox. Kabangu’s energy and attitude as a 77th-minute substitute helped the visitors secure a 2-0 win, Lawrence Shankland scoring twice to increase pressure on the Rangers manager Russell Martin. McInnes admitted Kabangu’s approach has been impeccable despite managing just two sub outings in the Premiership for Hearts since his summer transfer from Union Saint-Gilloise. The Belgian striker spent the second half of last season on loan at Tynecastle Park from USG and signed a permanent three-year deal in May as McInnes was appointed manager. He started two of four Premier Sports Cup ties in July, scoring against Hamilton, but has been a bit-part player since. He is faced with significantly greater competition in attack this term following the arrival of Claudio Braga and Pierre Landry Kabore in Gorgie. Allied to Shankland and teenage forward James Wilson, McInnes finds himself with a plethora of options up front. So far, he has favoured Shankland and Braga as a partnership. Kabangu has spent most of the season watching from the substitutes’ bench. However, his enthusiasm in a cameo role at Ibrox proved he is earning recognition. McInnes told the Edinburgh News that he cannot fault the 27-year-old. “I’ve got huge admiration for Elton with how he’s trained. He’s had to watch a wee bit at the minute but he was outstanding. He couldn’t have played that role better for us when he came on at the weekend. He’s been great. “He’s trained well, even in the bounce games. He scored two the other week [against Dunfermline], he scored a hat-trick in a previous bounce game [against Ross County], he’s doing everything. Sometimes they say you can’t always play your way into the team through your training. Sometimes you can be bobbing along, but you can play your way out of the team by not training right and not showing the right approach. “Boys like him and others have been doing well. It makes my job more difficult. The other strikers see that as well. They see Elton and others perform well. Kingsley comes in on Saturday as well. Stephen Kingsley is as good a player as I thought he was from the outside in. He’s hardly put a foot wrong since I came on the door. It’s been tough for him. His professionalism, his approach to training, the bounce games, have been first class. That allows him to perform like that.” Kingsley is also battling for more first-team game time this term as a result of Harry Milne’s fine form at left-back. Milne lined up in an unusual role wide on the right for Hearts against Rangers, allowing Kingsley to slot in on the left of defence. Both he and Kabangu are using their experience to prove they should be more involved. McInnes has assembled a huge squad after 11 summer signings in total. Keeping every player happy is difficult. He will use another bounce game this week to keep people needing game time active. Hearts are joint-top of the Premiership alongside Celtic after five matches. Their next competitive fixture is not until a week on Saturday against Falkirk at Tynecastle. READ MORE: ‘Are you mad?’ Exclusive insight into Rangers 0-2 Hearts – from couch to dressing room READ MORE: Scottish football attendances 70% higher than anywhere in Europe READ MORE: Rangers pay for Shankland mistake
