Hearts loanee Lewis Neilson hoping to win permanent Falkirk move as defender looks for long-term home

It hasn’t been all plain sailing for Lewis Neilson since he joined Falkirk on loan for the Scottish Premiership season on loan from Hearts - but the centre-back would seriously consider a permanent move to the Bairns if it became an option.

The defender, 22, started the campaign as a regular starter for John McGlynn’s side but he has struggled to regain a spot in the Bairns’ starting eleven since returning from a frustrating, lengthy mid-season injury. Neilson started seven out of the eight opening league outings, only missing out on a trip to Tynecastle as he couldn’t face his parent club. But he then faced three months out with ligament damage, and play 90 minutes in the top flight until mid-February.

On the face of it - just 12 Premiership appearances isn’t much to shout about. But Neilson believes that there is a bigger picture at play as he looks to find a home, having been out on loan in previous seasons from Hearts. The centre-back is out of contract this summer.

Lewis Neilson ‘open’ to Falkirk stay

When asked if he had talked about staying at Falkirk beyond the summer, Neilson said: “No, not so far. It’s something I would definitely be open to but it’s not something we’ve discussed so far. I’ll try to finish the season as strongly as possible myself and hopefully that puts me in a position to have conversations like that. I’m out of contract in the summer so it’s hard not to think about the future, especially when it’s so unknown where you’ll end up. I’ve been giving it a wee bit of thought but my main focus is to finish the season as strongly as possible and hopefully that will put me in as good a position as possible come the summer.

“I’ve not really spoken to Hearts too much. I think they’ve got a lot on their mind at the minute obviously going for the league so I’ll let them off with that one! But I’ve not really spoken to them. The last I heard about contracts was when I was injured and it was let’s get you back playing and then we’ll discuss. I just want to finish the season as strongly as possible and then I’m sure these conversations will come. I’m not too sure the centre-halves at Hearts, what their contractual situation is. I know Halks and Stu are on long-term deals so it’s going to be a lot of competition if I am there.”

The defender added that the prospect of leaving Hearts is something he is comfortable with - and he “one million per cent” believes that he has found a good home at Falkirk under McGlynn’s stewardship.

“I wouldn’t say tough,” he explained. “It’d almost be comfortable to stay at Hearts and then maybe try to break in and maybe get put back out on loan again. I feel that’s what I’ve done the last few seasons. Don’t get me wrong if I could sign a deal at Hearts and play every week then that’s perfect. But you also have to be a little bit realistic. I feel I could be good enough to go and do that but that’s not always the case in football so I need somewhere that’s going to be a home that I’m going to play every week and just take it from there.”

“One million per cent (found a home at Falkirk) and I think all the new boys will say it’s probably the easiest changing room they’ve ever come into to settle into and that’s down to the culture they have here from the staff to the players. It feels like one big family almost. I felt really comfortable here all year and I would definitely see it as somewhere I could call home.

“The difference I’ve felt this season is I belong here and I belong playing in the Premiership, I belong playing top-level football. Rather, in seasons before I felt like I was still that young boy that needs to prove himself and don’t get me wrong, you always have to prove yourself and that’ll always be the case throughout my career. But I feel now more comfortable that I belong, I can start leading a bit more, I can start speaking around the park and I think that’s 100 per cent came from watching boys like Hendo who’s had an incredible season and learning off Coll, even though he has been missing for a lot of the season. Just hearing them off the pitch as well and that togetherness, I’ve learned a lot this season and I definitely feel like I’m a better player for it.”

Lewis Neilson hoping to finish season strong

On his season so far, Neilson added: “I think I had a really good start, obviously came in here and as a player on loan I want to play as many games as possible. I’d played every single minute up until I got my injury against Motherwell in November time. It was a long process, what felt like a long process to me, to come back – three to four months I was sidelined for with the injury. It’s been OK since I’ve got back, I probably haven’t played as many games as I would have liked to since being back but that’s due to the boys being brilliant, there’s a lot of competition in the majority of positions. It’s been alright since I’ve come back from injury but maybe I would have liked a few more games so hopefully I can finish the season strongly.

“The boys have been doing brilliantly, it was great to see and you want to be part of a group that’s got competition, part of a group that’s so strong, because you better yourself when you’re around boys that are playing so well. You just need to learn to not get frustrated as easily if you’re out of the team for a few weeks, keep training hard and make your way back into the team.”

The centre-back is also hoping that no-one in the Bairns’ squad suffers any more ankle injuries, with a handful of team-mates having all been sidelined this season due to similar issues.

“There were four or five of us with ankle injuries,” Neilson said. “We joked that the surgeon Robert at Ross Hall had got a new hot tub in his back garden from us! I think he is Scott Bain’s neighbour, and Scotty was saying that he’s got his garden done up and I think we’ve paid for that!”