Hearts boss hopeful of extending Blackrock man Dunne's loan deal from Burnley

Hearts manager Craig Levein is hopeful of extending Blackrock man Jimmy Dunne's loan spell at the Scottish Premiership leaders to the end of the season.

Defender Dunne, who turned 21 last week, is currently with the Jambos until January and has impressed since joining from Burnley, scoring twice and keeping three clean sheets in eight appearances.

"I've already spoken to Jimmy and I just need to get in touch with Burnley. I will do that in the next couple of weeks," Levein told The Daily Record.

"I've been pleased with him. He has brought for a young guy quite a lot of calmness to the team along with his obvious attributes.

"He is a good passer of the ball and is good in the air and has decent pace. He is a calm boy, he is low maintenance and is not difficult to deal with at all."

The former Rock Celtic schoolboy recently made his competitive debut with the Republic of Ireland U21 team; however, there has been doubts over his allegiance with reports suggesting that he may switch to the North.

Dunne played 90 minutes in Hearts' 2-0 win over Aberdeen at Tynecastle on Saturday.