GARY O’Neil says a loan spell is what James Hill “needed” as the 21-year-old settles into his temporary stay at Heart of Midlothian.

Centre-back Hill earlier this month joined the Scottish Premiership outfit on a deal until the end of the season.

He has already made a huge impact, keeping two clean sheets and recording two victories from his first two appearances, in wins over St Mirren and Aberdeen.

He was also named in the SPFL team of the week after his debut display, before his long throw helped Hearts take the lead over Aberdeen on Wednesday night.

“It’s exactly what James needed,” O’Neil told the Daily Echo, when asked about the decision to loan Hill out.

“He’s trained really hard with us, but has been here quite a while now without having much football.

“So to go out, play some league football, get back into the swing of playing week in, week out will benefit him definitely.”