The players in maroon are making headlines in Edinburgh, but McPake has become the main talking point across the country. He is undoubtedly enjoying his time in the spotlight.
Across eight appearances, he has contributed two goals and four assists for a Hearts team whose increasingly attractive football is establishing them as one of the season’s most entertaining sides.
Hearts produced an outstanding display during the opening 30 minutes at their city rivals’ ground. McPake and fellow Scotland prospect Calvin Miller were almost impossible to contain, staying wide and repeatedly racing beyond home full-back Felix Passlack.
McPake got the better of the former Borussia Dortmund defender before creating James Wilson’s opening goal. Ex-Hearts forward Ryan Stevenson said the move perfectly demonstrated the problems McPake causes opponents.
“Defenders find it extremely difficult when wide players operate on the opposite flank,” Stevenson explained. “They are usually expected to cut inside, but McPake is equally comfortable going around the outside, using a feint or shifting onto his left foot.
“One of his greatest strengths is that defenders can never predict which direction he will choose.”
McPake displayed that unpredictability once more with a brilliant individual goal, securing the strike he had been determined to score in his first derby appearance.
“I felt we began the match exceptionally well,” McPake said afterward. “I created the opening goal in the first half, but I was also particularly eager to score myself.”
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