The 5 Scottish Premiership Breakthrough Players for 2013/14

With every passing season in the Scottish Premier League—sorry, Scottish Premiership—it seems that, more and more often, the stars of the previous campaign have gone before the new one gets underway.

This summer saw the departure of Gary Hooper, Victor Wanyama, Leigh Griffiths, Michael Higdon and Andrew Shinnie to pick out just a few of the bigger names, and while a lot of hard work goes on behind the scenes to bring in suitable replacements, it's never easy.

Financial constraints mean that the funds teams have at their disposal are pretty limited, with the exception of Celtic, and increasingly the need is to turn to the youth setups and the lower divisions in the search for new talent.

That said, just as certain as it is that each season key players will leave is that new stars will emerge to take their place.

Here we take a look at five players who look set to make their breakthrough and have a big impact on the season to come.

Tony Watt: Celtic

Despite netting what turned out to be the winner in Celtic's historic Champions League win over Barcelona last season, Tony Watt is yet to establish himself in the first team at Parkhead.

Last year, he mostly had to settle for cameo roles coming on as a substitute, with most of his 28 appearances coming off the bench, but with Gary Hooper leaving for Norwich, he'll have his sights set on becoming much more of a regular this time around.

Watt is still only 19, but with his composure in front of goal and movement off the ball, he has all the qualities required. Neil Lennon might still be in the market for another centre-forward, particularly with the Champions League in mind, but Watt could be just the man he's looking for to replace Hooper.

Lawrence Shankland: Aberdeen

A summer arrival from Third Division club Queen's Park, Lawrence Shankland will start the season with Aberdeen's Under-20 side. If he continues on his current form though, it surely won't be long before Derek McInnes gives him his chance with the first team.

Shankland is a natural finisher, lethal in front of goal, and proved it last season with 14 goals for Gardner Speirs' side, including a stunning strike in the Challenge Cup against Partick Thistle. He's capable of playing out wide and drifting inside, although as he proved last season, Shankland is far more comfortable playing centrally, either as a striker or just off the front.

Aberdeen's options in attack are relatively limited, with only four recognised forwards in the first-team squad, and should goals prove as difficult to come by at Pittodrie as they did last season, chances are they'll look to their youth teams, and to Shankland, in the hope of finding some firepower.

Alex Harris: Hibs

Alex Harris made his debut for Hibernian in a 3-0 win over Dundee at Easter Road in October last year, and went on to make 14 appearances for Pat Fenlon's side between then and the end of the season.

He started the club's Scottish Cup semi-final against Falkirk, and it was his goal, scored shortly after the half-time interval with his team three goals down, which sparked an almost miraculous comeback, finishing with Leigh Griffiths' winner with five minutes remaining in extra time.

With Griffiths now gone back to Wolves, the worry for Hibs fans is how difficult it will be to replace not only his goals but his creativity. A lot will be expected of new man James Collins, signed for £200,000 from Swindon Town, but too often last season Hibs were overly reliant on Griffiths, and they will need bigger performances from the rest of the team this season if they want to challenge for a top-six finish.

Harris is still a few weeks short of his 19th birthday, but he's creative, skilful and has an eye for goal. He could very well be a key player for Hibs this season.

Andrew Robertson: Dundee United

Like Shankland, Andrew Robertson is another product of Queen's Park's highly productive youth setup, but unlike his teammate from last season, he's been given his chance in the first team with Dundee United right from the off.

An incredibly assured performance on debut Friday night against Partick Thistle at Firhill demonstrated all of Robertson's talent—great positional sense, excellent composure and a good delivery either from the by-line or from deep—and it seems that he's already made the left-back spot his own at Tannadice.

As difficult as it is to believe, Robertson only turned 19 in March of this year. He's a strong player despite his relatively slight frame, and after a remarkable 40 appearances in the Third Division last season, he's ready to make the step up to top-flight football.

Stevie May: St. Johnstone

Following loan spells with Hamilton last season and Alloa the season before, Stevie May has finally been given his chance in the first team with St. Johnstone under new manager Tommy Wright.

May had been quite far down the pecking order in a Saints squad that was pretty deep in terms of attacking options, but with Grégory Tade leaving for Romanian side CFR Cluj and Rowan Vine quitting McDiarmid Park for Easter Road, he found his path to a starting spot cleared.

He's wasted no time in proving he has what it takes.

He bagged the equaliser against Rosenborg in the Europa League which gave his side a historic two-leg victory, and on the opening weekend of the Premiership season scored the winner against Hearts to get the Saints off to the perfect start.