Hearts midfielder Connor Smith a confirmed target for Hamilton Accies boss John Rankin

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Hamilton Accies boss John Rankin has confirmed the club have made a move to bring Connor Smith back to the New Douglas Park on loan.

The midfielder was with Accies last season for the final five months of the season, but couldn't prevent them being relegated from the Championship via the play-offs.Championship sides Dunfermline and Airdrie - where Connor's brother Callum played last season - have also been reported to be interested in Smith's services.But Rankin is determined to bring the 21-year-old back to South Lanarkshire to bolster their League One title push this season and is awaiting an answer, after expressing an interest in another loan deal.Smith made 18 appearances and scored six times for Accies last season.He signed a new one-year deal with the Jambos last month but the arrival of Rangers midfielder Alex Lowry on a season-long loan will limit his opportunities at Tynecastle.And Rankin said: "We've expressed an interest in Connor but we have not made any progress yet."I don't know if Airdrie or Dunfermline are interested in him as well, we are just concentrating on ourselves."There will be lots of teams out there who will admire good players and Connor is certainly that, so we'll need to wait and see what happens."It is his career and he needs to figure out what he wants to do, and I don't know what his thinking is right now."I don't know how desperate Connor will be to start playing games, that's something only he could tell you, but I've worked with him before, I know what he is like."He is obviously a Hearts player but he is one that we've had before and know how he works."In terms of any other ins and outs at New Douglas Park, Rankin added: "We don't know how things with Connor are going to progress, so