Derek McInnes feels Tottenham U21s was not right move for Hearts’ James Wilson

Derek McInnes believes James Wilson would have been better off staying at Hearts than joining Tottenham’s Under-21s.

In a surprise deadline-day move, the 18-year-old Scotland cap signed for Spurs until the end of the season, with the terms of the loan including an option to buy for the London club.

Wilson, who also attracted interest from Arsenal, has scored eight goals in 45 appearances since making his breakthrough last season but he has struggled for game time this term as the Jambos have surged to the top of the William Hill Premiership.

“James wanted to go, so you don’t want to keep a player who then becomes unhappy,” said manager McInnes, addressing the striker’s move for the first time. “I couldn’t guarantee him minutes, such is the way it’s been.

“I told him and his agent, they knew that our preference was to stay, fight for your place, be part of something, we’ll get you a loan in Scotland if need be, if you need to top your minutes up and we can maybe recall you, so you still get the best of both worlds.

“But his head was turned with the Tottenham thing. First of all it was Arsenal, then Arsenal went quiet and then all of a sudden Tottenham came to the table Monday afternoon.

“I don’t think it’s the right move for him. Ultimately, it’s academy football and I think he’s better than that. But it was something James wanted to do.

“So like I say, we made it clear that our preference was for him to stay and be part of something here. But he made the decision and I hope it goes well for him because he’s a great kid and we’ll see how it plays out.

“But for us, I just need to concentrate on the players who are here and who want to be here and who want to play their part.”

Hearts will be missing Craig Halkett for next Tuesday’s Edinburgh derby at home to Hibernian after the influential centre-back was red-carded in Tuesday’s 1-0 defeat at St Mirren.

It was the third time in five league games the Jambos have had a man sent off in the first half. While McInnes was heartened by the spirit his league leaders showed with 10 men for over an hour, he was frustrated by their reluctance to play the ball forward when they had a full quota in the early stages.

“There’s no criticising my players once we’ve got 10 men, we were terrific in terms of what I expect from them,” said the manager.

“But we got top of the league by being something, and teams need to know that if they want to come after us, we’re going to put it in behind you, we’re going to run, we’re going to test you and try to put stress on your back line.

“St Mirren’s back line needed to know that if you want to play a high line, then you’ve got to be prepared to run towards your own goal a few times. We didn’t do it enough.”