Don Cowie tips Hearts team-mate Callum Paterson to be big hit in England
Don Cowie has told the Hearts support to enjoy Callum Paterson while they have him - because it may not be long before he is leading a Tynecastle exodus.
Cowie reckons Paterson is tailor-made for English football and believes it is only a matter of time before a club south of the border gambles on his signature.
The 22-year-old was the subject of a failed bid from Wigan this summer and with his contract set to expire at the end of the current campaign, Hearts boss Robbie Neilson is bracing himself for fresh bids when the January transfer window opens.
But Cowie thinks he could be the first of four Jambos who could be on the move after tipping wingers Jamie Walker and Sam Nicholson as well as defender John Souttar to make big switches of their own.
He said: "When I first came here 10 months ago the first thing I noticed was the quality of the young Scottish lads here. Whenever anyone asks me about them, I say, 'They could go to England'.
"Callum is definitely in that bracket. It's only a matter of time before that happens.
"Callum's still relatively young and he has a lot of things to learn.
"He could definitely play in the Championship, but I genuinely believe if he brushes up on a few things he could play Premier League, no problem.
"We've just got to enjoy him while we've got him."
Paterson netted his seventh goal of the campaign from right-back on Monday night as he rescued a point for his side against Hamilton.
The 3-3 draw was Hearts' third draw on the bounce and their fourth game without a win.
Neilson's side have scored 24 goals in the Ladbrokes Premiership so far this season, with only runaway leaders' Celtic finding the net more often.
But Cowie admits his side's defensive record is not so impressive.
"We're disappointed we haven't managed to win any of the last four games," he said ahead of Saturday's visit of Motherwell.
"But on the positive side we have shown great character to fight back and get draws from games where it looked unlikely.
"Collectively as a team we have conceded some really poor goals. We're scoring which is important.
"But to only have three draws when we have scored eight goals in our last three games is frustrating.
"But we can't blame the defence. As a team we have been a bit too open. We're going into a spell where there are a lot of games in a short period and we need to rectify that quickly, starting on Saturday."
Motherwell midfielder Chris Cadden has been delighted to see some of his Youth Cup-winning team-mates seize their chance under manager Mark McGhee.
Defenders Jack McMillan and David Ferguson helped Motherwell record a 2-0 victory over Partick Thistle last weekend and have pushed their claim to start at Tynecastle on Saturday, while Ross MacLean has also featured in recent weeks.
Cadden was already a first-team regular when he helped Motherwell win the SFA Youth Cup with a 5-2 victory over Hearts in May and McGhee is well along the path of integrating others from the under-20s.
The 20-year-old said: "It's been brilliant to see them because I think when they have come in, they have been absolutely brilliant. It's good because they all work hard, they have got great attitudes and they are all very good players who deserve their chance.
"The first thing I did on Saturday was go over and see Jack and Fergie and congratulated them because I thought they were tremendous and a real main point as to why we won. It's great to see them doing well.
"The most important thing to have is a winning team so when you have a winning team you can see how delighted they are and how happy they were to be on it."
Source: PAR
