 Winger David Templeton is not bothered by the waves of interest that have been created by his recent sensational run of performances. Templeton has been named Young Player of the Month for December, picking up the prize for the second successive month. It was an award which Templeton, who has attracted reported interest from a host of clubs and Scotland manager Craig Levein, did not expect. Hearts played only four times in December and manager Jim Jefferies was planning to substitute Templeton before he scored in the 2-0 win at St Mirren. Templeton said: "I was surprised, because against St Mirren I didn't have my best game. I did quite well at the end of the game, but for the first 60 minutes I didn't play well at all." Last month Jefferies attempted to dampen transfer speculation over Templeton by suggesting clubs would have to offer a fee of around £15million to even make him think about allowing the winger to leave the club. Templeton is unsure of his market value, but does not believe it is so high. Asked what he thought about Jefferies' price tag, he said: "I thought it was quite silly. I don't really listen to the speculation. I just try and play as best I can, blank everything out and concentrate on my football. Last season I didn't play a lot so this season's new to me, playing every week. I'm happy to keep taking each game as it comes and to keep trying to play every game." Templeton has taken the chance to impress thanks to the opportunities given him by the injuries to Andrew Driver and Suso Santana. He believes Jefferies, who is in Lithuania this week for a scheduled meeting with majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov, and his assistant Billy Brown have been integral to his performances. He added: "They came in in January and I was injured when they first came in. At the end of the season they gave me my chance and at the start of the season I continued to play. Since they came in it's helped me a lot." Hearts are just seven points behind league leaders Celtic with a game in hand ahead of this weekend's away fixture to Dundee United. With Celtic dropping points and Rangers still to play their games in hand some are suggesting Hearts could be the ones to benefit and are genuine title contenders. Hearts lost 1-0 to St Johnstone in the Scottish Cup on Tuesday night, but are looking to extend a run of eight wins and a draw in nine league games when they travel to Tannadice. Templeton went on: "It's a massive game for us, especially after Tuesday's performance, so hopefully we can bounce back and get back to winning ways. In the second half of the season we've just got to try and keep being consistent. We're taking one game at a time and hopefully come the end of the season if we're up there challenging hopefully we can (win the title)." |