Where does Wilson fit in at Hearts after starring role?

Wilson scored his first goal of the season after coming off the bench at half-time [SNS] There was plenty to be positive about for Hearts fans after their 6-2 win over Inverness Caledonian Thistle. New signings got a chance to stake a claim and plenty delivered, with Ugandan winger Rogers Mato and French midfielder Tom Renaud impressing. But one of the best showings came from a player who was already at the club last season. Well, for half of it anyway. After returning from a loan spell at Tottenham Hotspur, where he made no first-team appearances after joining in January, James Wilson looks to have a future at Hearts. But where does the 19-year-old striker fit in Wouter Vrancken's plans? Minutes hard to come by in Hearts' title tilt Wilson made his breakthrough as a 17-year-old in the 2024-25 season, scoring six goals across 32 first-team appearances. Not only did he help stave off a relegation threat, he made his Scotland debut in March 2025 to become his country's youngest ever player. That summer, head coach Derek McInnes arrived and Wilson featured heavily in the League Cup group stage. However, as the league started and Hearts began to mount an early title push, the teenager found minutes increasingly hard to come by. He would only start one league game, a 3-3 draw against Motherwell, and come off the bench a further five times. Spurs came in on deadline day, beating rivals Arsenal to his signature, and it was perhaps no surprise Wilson's head was turned. Wilson would be named on the first-team bench twice but only played under-21 football for Spurs, who did not trigger the option to buy Wilson. "I've seen a lot of people question it at the time, but for me, I got the experience of training with arguably a top-six club in England," Wilson said of his time in London. "There's some world-class players in that training group. Getting to train with the first team, using the facilities and getting the experience of being on the bench - the learning that I got made me a better player. "So, hopefully I'm coming back here to show that." Wilson 'smart enough' to play Vrancken's way James Wilson nodded in his first goal of the season and Hearts' fourth on the day [SNS] Wilson was left on the bench in each of Vrancken's first four games - all of which ended in defeat, but he has now featured in three successive matches and nabbed a goal against Inverness, nodding in a rebound from close range. "He did good," Vrancken said after the match. "James is also one who is smart enough to know what we want. "He is not as physical as some other strikers, but he can read the game and he can see what we want and try to do it also." Wilson's understanding with Claudio Braga was noted and his movement offered more of a threat than the man he replaced, Amadou Ba-Sy. On his first goal in over a year, the teenager said: "It feels amazing. It's been so long since I've had that feeling. I loved it. "The manager said to just kind of be me. Go run down everything, go and press everything. "And I just kept myself in the middle of the box. To be fair, that was literally the goal I scored, wasn't it? "I feel like I've worked so hard. I've done loads of stuff off the pitch, been in the gym, been doing everything I could to try and just be in the best place possible when I got called upon." More 'hunger and desire' than competition Wilson was brought on at half-time with the score 1-0, picked ahead of Pierre Landry Kabore, while Vrancken suggested Ba-Sy is yet to adapt to his methods. "I'll talk with him and then we'll see how he understands it and how he will cope with this," the head coach said. "I don't want to hear excuses because we don't live on excuses." Of course, Braga is Hearts' main striker - for the time being, anyway. The Portuguese forward also scored against Inverness and has been heavily linked with a move away. Does Wilson's performance push him ahead of Kabore and Ba-Sy? "He was very good," said Sportsound pundit Allan Preston said on BBC Radio Scotland. "He showed more desire and hunger than Ba-Sy, who has a long way to go. "Wilson looks strong, linked up well and deserved his goal for his work rate." Visit our Hearts page for all the latest news, analysis and fan views Get Hearts news notifications in the BBC Sport app