Banks happy to lend a hand

IT would be easy to forgive Steve Banks if he admitted to the odd pang of jealousy at Craig Gordon's stunning run of form which has seen him relegated to the bench since his arrival from Gillingham.

Far from secretly harbouring hopes of stealing Gordon's crown though, Banks has revealed he is hoping to help his rival improve his game even further after qualifying as a goalkeeping coach in the summer.

The Tynecastle reserve keeper will pull on the gloves for a rare first-team start in the CIS Cup against Alloa tonight, however he's under no illusions that the trip to Recreation Park will hand him a chance to oust Gordon from between the sticks on a permanent basis.

Banks concedes that he will never be first-choice keeper with someone of Gordon's quality at the club and is concentrating on what he will do when he hangs his gloves up. He is keen to become more involved on the coaching side of the game and, having earned his badge in the close season, is hoping that he can pass on some of his experience to 23-year-old Gordon.

He said: "We already learn a lot from one another and I'm hoping that he's maybe picked up a few things from me because I've got a few more years' experience under my belt than he has. It's great to see how much he has progressed and we already work on things together in training with Jim Stewart. During the week we sit down and watch footage from the previous game and discuss a few things, see what needs to be worked on in order to become a better keeper.

"I just want to play whenever I am needed and maybe help out with the goalkeeping coaching to help Craig and the other guys at the club to progress their careers.

"I did my goalkeeping coaching badge in the summer and thankfully I passed so when I finish playing I'd love to work as a coach and if I can do that with Hearts then so much the better. Jim Stewart is fantastic at Hearts so it would be great if I could stay on at the club and help out in some capacity."

Banks has featured in just three competitive matches since joining the Gorgie side, however, with Gordon in the form of his life at the moment, the former West Ham and Bolton stopper admits that he can have no arguments over team selection, adding: "It's not been that difficult for me to accept to be honest because Craig has been doing so well.

"I've just got totake the odd chance to play in the first team when it comes along.

"If Craig wasn't doing so well then it would be a different matter because obviously I would be wanting to play instead of him, but he's been producing great performances every single week so there's nothing I can do.

"I didn't know a great deal about Craig before I moved to Hearts to be honest, although I did meet him at a pre-season goalkeeping camp. He was in a different group to me but I was told all about him and that he was progressing very well. That was about as much as I knew, but within about a week of working with him I could see for myself exactly how good a goalkeeper he was and he has a massive future.

"Especially last season I couldn't put Craig at fault for anything, he didn't even make half a mistake as far as I was concerned. "I said at the end of last season that the new campaign was going to be a huge one for him and he needed to take what he did last year and add a bit more consistency to his game and I think that he has done that.

"He has started so well, making crucial saves in big games and really carried on where he left off from, that can only be good for the team."

Hearts coach Valdas Ivanauskas, pictured right, has intimated that he will use almost all of the players available to him this season and will rotate his squad on a regular basis in a bid to cope with the number of games his players will be expected to undertake this season. Banks is hoping that, when he is given his chance, he can prove to be a capable deputy to Scotland's number one goalkeeper. He impressed against Falkirk and Celtic last season before facing Rangers in the final day of the season and the 34-year-old added: "It's quite encouraging for me to hear that they are going to rotate the squad because of the number of games that we're going to be playing and obviously because of injuries and suspensions.

"There were a few new players coming in while the transfer window was open but there was no sign of another goalkeeper so that proves to me that I am happy with what I have been doing and hopefully so are the club.

"Hopefully it also shows that they have no qualms about putting me in goal when they need a job done, so that's pleasing.

"It's been a long wait since I last played with the first team, so it's a nice chance to go out and get a competitive game under my belt.

"I have played a couple of games in pre-season but tonight will be my first competitive game and it would be nice to play well, but I am back-up to Craig so it's all about going out there to show that, while I might not get a game for two or three months, when I am needed I am capable of coming in and doing a good job.

"Overall I'm quite happy with that and it would be nice to get a decent result, a good week and hopefully we can progress to the next round of the competition.

"It will certainly be a bit different from my last appearance for the first team when I played the last game of the season against Rangers at Ibrox, but sometimes that's the life of a number two goalkeeper.

"I think it's good if you can show that you are capable of going to Ibrox and playing in front of about 55,000 supporters and then your next game is against Alloa, maybe in front of about 2,000 people. To show that you can still do the same job in either of those situations is what is important for me."

Taken from the Scotsman