Finlay Pollock picks out 'legend' as Hearts kid hails Raith Rovers loan
Finlay Pollock has hailed the influence of 'legend' Colin Cameron in his rapid development at Raith Rovers.
The Hearts youngster moved to Stark's Park on loan in September and went on to score six times in 25 appearances for the Kirkcaldy club.
However, his campaign was cut short by a serious hamstring injury sustained in the 1-0 victory over Ayr United in April and he returned to Tynecastle prematurely.
It meant the on-form attacker missed the final four games of the season as Raith fell agonisingly short of landing a shot at promotion through the play-offs.
Despite that bitter disappointment, Pollock looks back fondly on his spell across the Forth in Fife and has detailed the improvements it helped him make to his game.
'They definitely saw my pace,' he said of his time at Raith, where former Jambo Cameron is assistant-manager. 'That's one of my strengths and they saw that I could probably outrun centre-backs in the league, fairly comfortably.
'They always wanted me to stretch the game. They really wanted me to try and utilise my pace as much as possible against these defenders.
'[Colin Cameron] let the rest of the team know that as well. That was sort of the main message for me to do that – and I got a lot of goals out of doing that as well.
'Obviously he [Cameron] is a bit of a legend here [at Hearts]. My whole family know that and my dad reminds me how lucky I was to be with him each day.
'But he taught me on the pitch as well. Even if it was after training when we'd go out for second sessions.
'He just showed me where to be, different positions to keep and to hold and when to run, when to stay, when to come short, when to go long – all these different things.
'That just helped me on the pitch and it just improved me as a whole.'
In an interview with Hearts TV, Pollock added: 'I learned a lot. The Championship was very tight, it was very competitive, very physical.
'So, you've got to adapt when you're on the pitch and use different parts of your body to protect the ball and keep the ball. And learn when to go forward, when to come short, all different aspects like that.
'Just getting a run at games like that helps you to learn and understand.'
With Pollock's season ended prematurely by injury, his focus has turned to next term and successfully completing his lengthy comeback.
'It's touch and go whether I make pre-season,' added the 20-year-old. 'Hopefully I can make sort of mid-July or the end of July. That's the aim, if all goes well, to try and get back for then.
'But I'll need to make sure I'm right before I come back.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
an hour ago
- The National
Dealing with Southampton heat showed Russell Martin can hack Rangers
The Scotland goalkeeper, though, insisted he couldn't recollect that fateful moment in an English Championship match against Fulham at Craven Cottage eight years ago when he spoke to the media at Hampden yesterday. "I remember my debut,' he said following a national team training session at Lesser Hampden ahead of the friendly international against Iceland in Mount Florida on Friday night. 'But I can't remember him scoring against me, no. Did he? We won't mention that, because he's a good guy.' Yet, Gunn had no problem recalling what a fine footballer, inspirational leader and cerebral thinker on the game Martin, who had just been tipped to take over as manager at Rangers when he arrived at his press conference, was when they had played together at Carrow Road at the start of his professional career. The difficulties which Norwich experienced against the Swansea City and Southampton sides the former Scotland centre-half managed were also fresh in his mind. Read more: Opinion about the man who led the St Mary's Stadium outfit back into the Premier League via the end-of-season play-offs last year was sharply divided among fans of the Glasgow club. Many admitted they would have preferred Davide Ancelotti, Francesco Farioli or Steven Gerrard to succeed Philippe Clement. But Gunn was adamant that appointing Martin, who was sacked back in December following a disappointing run of results in the English top flight, would be no own goal by Rangers. 'It's hard to compare a promoted team going into the Premier League with a team like Rangers going into European games,' he said. 'But I think he showed what he can do as a manager, not only with Southampton but with Swansea as well. He took a team that wasn't expected to do much quite far into the Championship as well. 'I think it will be a positive thing for Rangers. But, obviously, the only thing that can bring those supporters round is probably him getting in the door and starting well. That's the only thing that can happen. "But Southampton were a tough team. We had a couple of good games against them. We saw the evolution of their team throughout the season. I think when we first played them, they were quite open. Then, when we played them again, they were a little bit more pragmatic. 'I think that shows a coach that can adapt and change the way his team plays. Watching his teams over the few years that he was there, I thought he did that. Even though some people probably said he was reluctant to change, I thought he did that quite well, especially in the Championship anyway. (Image: Andrew Matthews) "It is a difficult league to get out of. We had the pressure of them coming down as well. A lot of the teams find it quite hard. I was there at Southampton previously and I felt it. There was a lot of pressure on him and the team and he managed to deliver. 'I don't know if he's going to go to Rangers or not, but obviously he had a spell there as a player so he kind of knows the club a little bit. I think it would be a really good thing for the Rangers, to be fair.' Gunn always suspected that Martin, whose partner is former glamour model Lucy Pinder, who is a former member of the Green Party, who is a proponent of Buddhism and who is a vegan, was destined to move into management and his success with MK Dons, Swansea and Southampton in the past six years has not surprised him. 'I only worked with him as a player at Norwich,' he said. 'But he's a very intellectual guy. I went in there as a young goalkeeper and he helped me massively, even though he wasn't in the team every week and playing regularly. He was the captain of the club and he had good relationships with everyone in the dressing room. 'There were a few other players in that dressing room who were like that,' he said. 'Steven Naismith was there as well. But you can definitely tell on the pitch when you're playing with players who are going to go into management. They kind of start coaching whilst they're still playing, if you like, sort of organising on the pitch. Read more: 'He was one of them. But Russell wasn't just on the pitch, he was off the pitch as well, where he had close relationships with everyone. Even though, I wasn't a regular playing in the team, he was always on hand and always upbeat and a good person to go to. 'I watch him now on the television and can see the way he wants teams to play football and what his philosophy is. I really hope whatever he goes on to in his career is successful.' Gunn, who was released by Norwich at the end of last season, is eager to put a difficult season firmly behind him and is looking forward to featuring in both of the Scotland friendlies in the coming days and performing well for his country. 'The injuries have probably been the most challenging thing to me because I've not been injured too much in my career,' he said. 'Sometimes that's hard to deal with if you're not used to it. But I thought I dealt with it quite well. I came back, tried to come back stronger. 'Obviously, it's a different stage of my career now. I'm getting a little bit older and every year is different. From my point of view, I don't really look too much into the past. I'm more excited for the future.'
The Herald Scotland
an hour ago
- The Herald Scotland
Dealing with Southampton heat showed Russell Martin can hack Rangers
"I remember my debut,' he said following a national team training session at Lesser Hampden ahead of the friendly international against Iceland in Mount Florida on Friday night. 'But I can't remember him scoring against me, no. Did he? We won't mention that, because he's a good guy.' Yet, Gunn had no problem recalling what a fine footballer, inspirational leader and cerebral thinker on the game Martin, who had just been tipped to take over as manager at Rangers when he arrived at his press conference, was when they had played together at Carrow Road at the start of his professional career. The difficulties which Norwich experienced against the Swansea City and Southampton sides the former Scotland centre-half managed were also fresh in his mind. Read more: Opinion about the man who led the St Mary's Stadium outfit back into the Premier League via the end-of-season play-offs last year was sharply divided among fans of the Glasgow club. Many admitted they would have preferred Davide Ancelotti, Francesco Farioli or Steven Gerrard to succeed Philippe Clement. But Gunn was adamant that appointing Martin, who was sacked back in December following a disappointing run of results in the English top flight, would be no own goal by Rangers. 'It's hard to compare a promoted team going into the Premier League with a team like Rangers going into European games,' he said. 'But I think he showed what he can do as a manager, not only with Southampton but with Swansea as well. He took a team that wasn't expected to do much quite far into the Championship as well. 'I think it will be a positive thing for Rangers. But, obviously, the only thing that can bring those supporters round is probably him getting in the door and starting well. That's the only thing that can happen. "But Southampton were a tough team. We had a couple of good games against them. We saw the evolution of their team throughout the season. I think when we first played them, they were quite open. Then, when we played them again, they were a little bit more pragmatic. 'I think that shows a coach that can adapt and change the way his team plays. Watching his teams over the few years that he was there, I thought he did that. Even though some people probably said he was reluctant to change, I thought he did that quite well, especially in the Championship anyway. (Image: Andrew Matthews) "It is a difficult league to get out of. We had the pressure of them coming down as well. A lot of the teams find it quite hard. I was there at Southampton previously and I felt it. There was a lot of pressure on him and the team and he managed to deliver. 'I don't know if he's going to go to Rangers or not, but obviously he had a spell there as a player so he kind of knows the club a little bit. I think it would be a really good thing for the Rangers, to be fair.' Gunn always suspected that Martin, whose partner is former glamour model Lucy Pinder, who is a former member of the Green Party, who is a proponent of Buddhism and who is a vegan, was destined to move into management and his success with MK Dons, Swansea and Southampton in the past six years has not surprised him. 'I only worked with him as a player at Norwich,' he said. 'But he's a very intellectual guy. I went in there as a young goalkeeper and he helped me massively, even though he wasn't in the team every week and playing regularly. He was the captain of the club and he had good relationships with everyone in the dressing room. 'There were a few other players in that dressing room who were like that,' he said. 'Steven Naismith was there as well. But you can definitely tell on the pitch when you're playing with players who are going to go into management. They kind of start coaching whilst they're still playing, if you like, sort of organising on the pitch. Read more: 'He was one of them. But Russell wasn't just on the pitch, he was off the pitch as well, where he had close relationships with everyone. Even though, I wasn't a regular playing in the team, he was always on hand and always upbeat and a good person to go to. 'I watch him now on the television and can see the way he wants teams to play football and what his philosophy is. I really hope whatever he goes on to in his career is successful.' Gunn, who was released by Norwich at the end of last season, is eager to put a difficult season firmly behind him and is looking forward to featuring in both of the Scotland friendlies in the coming days and performing well for his country. 'The injuries have probably been the most challenging thing to me because I've not been injured too much in my career,' he said. 'Sometimes that's hard to deal with if you're not used to it. But I thought I dealt with it quite well. I came back, tried to come back stronger. 'Obviously, it's a different stage of my career now. I'm getting a little bit older and every year is different. From my point of view, I don't really look too much into the past. I'm more excited for the future.'
The Herald Scotland
an hour ago
- The Herald Scotland
Scotland man Angus Gunn understands Rangers' pursuit of Russell Martin
Gunn, who is training with the Scotland squad at Lesser Hampden this week ahead of the national team's friendly internationalist against Iceland at Hampden on Friday evening and Liechtenstein on Monday night, can understand why the Govan outfit's new hierarchy are interested in bringing him in. Read more: 'I only worked with him as a player at Norwich,' he said. 'He's a very intellectual guy. I went in there as a young goalkeeper and he helped me massively, even though he wasn't in the team every week and playing regularly. 'He was the captain of the club and he had good relationships with everyone in the dressing room. Obviously, watching what he's done at Southampton, I thought he'd done incredibly well there. 'He probably was unfortunate to lose his job there because it's always difficult for teams coming up from the Championship to even compete with some of the Premier League teams. (Image: Andrew Milligan) 'I watch him now on the TV and can see the way he wants to play and his philosophy. I really hope whatever he goes on to in his career is successful. 'I don't know if he's going to go to Rangers or not, but obviously he had a spell there as well, so he kind of knows the club a little bit. I think it would be a really good thing for the Rangers, to be fair.' Read more: Gunn, who is set to win his 16th cap for his adopted homeland against Iceland, knew early on that Martin, who played 29 times for the country of his father's birth in the 2010s, was destined to become a manager when he started playing with him at Norwich. 'There were a few other players in that dressing room who were like that,' he said. 'Steven Naismith was there as well. But you can definitely tell on the pitch when you're playing with players. They kind of start coaching whilst they're still playing, if you like, sort of organising on the pitch. 'He was one of them. But Russell wasn't just on the pitch, he was off the pitch as well, where he had close relationships with everyone. Even though, like I said, he wasn't a regular playing in the team, he was always on hand and always upbeat and a good person to go to.'
