Gervane Kastaneer can be a ‘“frightening prospect” for Hearts as former teammate Liam Kelly hailed Coventry City’s strongman.
The Dutch winger is on loan at Tynecastle for the rest of the season after Robbie Neilson moved swiftly to secure a replacement for the injured Josh Ginnelly.
Former Kilmarnock midfielder Kelly has seen up close what Kastaneer is capable of - which included scoring with his first touch for the Sky Blues - and believes he’ll have absolutely no problem coping with the rough and tumble of the Scottish Championship.
“When Gervane first came into Coventry he set the club alight,” said Kelly.
“He scored a fantastic goal against Bristol Rovers straight after coming off the bench in his first league match. It was voted goal of the month.
“It was his first touch! He came in off the wing and let fly with a shot that lit the place up. It was some goal and showed us immediately the quality he has.
“Gervane certainly has bags of potential.
“He is the strongest guy at Coventry and physicality won’t be a problem for him in Scotland.
“But he is also very quick and direct and has loads of quality in the final third.
“When he goes one-v-one with a defender it can be quite a frightening prospect and there’s a good chance he’ll produce something good.”
Kastaneer will still have a year left on his deal at Coventry come the summer, and Hearts haven’t yet abandoned plans to bring Ginnelly back permanently.
But Kelly wouldn’t be surprised if Jambos are calling on Neilson to try and keep his replacement longer term.
He told the Daily Record: “Gervane desperately needs to go and play football. That will benefit him and hopefully he can do it for Hearts week in, week out.
“He has been training well so I would expect he’ll be ready to go straight in if Hearts want this weekend.
“He has just been very unfortunate that last season we more often than not played without wingers so he was coming off the bench most of the time.
“This season the players in his position have done really well and it’s been very difficult for him to get in the team.
“He can play as a striker too, you can see in training he is a fantastic finisher, but out wide is his strongest position. He just needs to be playing football.
“Gervane is a good guy. He speaks good English and will be well liked in the dressing room.
“If he produces what he’s capable of then Hearts fans will love him too.”
