SOUND advice from Hearts team-mate Steven Naismith will spur Harry Cochrane on when the going gets tough.

The highly-rated youngster introduced himself to the rest of Scottish football when he blasted home his first and only senior goal against Celtic at the age of just 16.

He grabbed national headlines for the strike and his mature performance on that day in December 2017.

Nearly two years later, he now hopes to recapture that form with Dunfermline and force his way back into Craig Levein’s plans upon his return to Tynecastle.

Naismith remains a mentor to the young loanee, who’s looking forward rather than back.

“I used to watch that goal quite a lot,” Cochrane recalled.

“I don’t do it as much now unless I’ve had a bad day at training! It keeps my mind right. It reminds me that I can play at that level.

“It was Naisy (Naismith) who told me that if I was ever down and feeling rubbish about how I was playing, to watch that video of the goal and other highlights of myself playing well to remind myself of that.

“You’re not going to be brilliant every day. That’s one of the things that’s really stuck in my head.”

Cochrane, now 18, soaked up the wisdom from the 49-time capped Scotland international as well as other seasoned pros in the Hearts squad at the time of his breakthrough.

“I remember playing in midfield with Naisy in his first game for Hearts against Hibs in the Scottish Cup,” the youngster said.

“He never shut up the whole game! But it was great for me. It was probably one of my best games for Hearts. Part of that was because of Naisy helping me. My dad said to me that it’s a great chance to learn off him. It’s the same with Christophe (Berra) and also Aaron Hughes when he was at the club.”

Cochrane moved to the Pars on deadline day in the summer transfer window and has made five appearances for the club since the loan move.

The last two have been from the start in a pair of 1-1 draws against Alloa Athletic and Morton, games he feels they should take some positives from.

“Two draws isn’t what we’re wanting but I think we’re starting to have more chances to win these games,” he said.

“For me personally, it’s great to be starting games as I haven’t really done that in the past couple of seasons.

“I feel I was a little off the pace against Alloa in the first half but it was the first time I had started a first-team game in ages.

“Saturday wasn’t a great game for me given my build and the physicality of it but I think I coped well though and it’s just unfortunate that we never saw the game out.

“I need to try and add goals to my game as well when I’m here. I’ve only scored once in my career, so I need to top that up and contribute more for the team going forward this season.”

The central midfielder’s progress is being monitored by his parent club with loans manager Gary Naysmith checking in with him routinely post-match.

A gym plan has also been assigned to him to follow in the hope he’ll “put on weight and fill out” during his spell at East End Park.

“Gary spoke to the sports scientist at Hearts and everything is on track for me in terms of my development,” he said.

“I’m loving my time here so far.”