Former Hearts midfielder Andy Irving scored an impressive hat-trick last night which could have a significant impact on the destiny of the Austrian title.
The 23-year-old - who left Hearts in 2021 - plays for Austria Klagenfurt in the top flight of the country.
He was snapped up by West Ham United last summer on deadline day of the window in September but was immediately loaned back to the Bundesliga club. However, things were kept under wraps, as neither club confirmed this deal until December of last year.
So far this season, the Hammers loanee has scored eight goals and made four assists in what has been a telling contribution for his side, who currently sit fifth in the top six split of the division.
🇦🇹| 𝑨 𝑯𝒂𝒕-𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝑨𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒅
— Everything Scotland 🏴 (@AboutScotlandd) April 24, 2024
West Ham loanee and former Hearts midfielder Andy Irving scored a hat-trick today as Austria Klagenfurt came from 2-0 down to beat league leaders RB Salzburg 4-3!pic.twitter.com/9eeepPeFD9
Irving scored three times in 22 minutes as Klagenfurt produced the unlikeliest of comebacks from 2-0 down against the then-league leaders RB Salzburg.
The defeat for Salzburg has opened the door for Sturm Graz - Mac Johnston's club - to go on to seal the title.
READ MORE: Kick-off time of Scottish Cup final between Rangers & Celtic
With West Ham potentially changing manager in the summer, with pressure mounting on David Moyes, Irving could potentially get a chance at the London Stadium.
Irving has represented Scotland at Under-17, U19 and U21 level.
The Edinburgh-born midfielder made 61 first team appearances at Tynecastle before moving onto pastures new three years ago.
He scored five goals and provided 13 assists during that time, as he played a pivotal role during the most recent Championship winning season.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here