Robbie Neilson knows Steve Clarke watched his side beat St Mirren on Saturday and hopes the Scotland boss wasn’t just there to keep an eye on squad regulars Craig Gordon and John Souttar.
The Hearts gaffer reckons three other Jambos have done enough this season to push their way into the international conversation.
And while Neilson respects Clarke too much to tell him who to pick, he wasn’t shy in talking about the trio who have helped his side move 11 points clear in third place ahead of Aberdeen’s visit tonight.
He said: “John and Craig are in that Scotland group already. Craig Halkett, although he’s just back from injury, has been fantastic for us all season.
" Barrie McKay has been outstanding and Stephen Kingsley has been great for us on the left of the back three.
“There are a number of players who I think maybe won’t be in the squad but will definitely be in Steve’s thoughts. But Steve is his own man. He will make his decisions, it doesn’t matter what I say.”
One Scot not on the list of those mentioned is Andy Halliday. But Neilson is thrilled to have the experienced midfielder tied down for another two years.
He added: “Andy falls into the same bracket as Michael Smith. He has played at the highest level, has great experience and can cover a number of positions.
“On Saturday he came on at right-back, he’s played left-back, left wing-back, centre-mid, No.10, left centre-half.
“Michael covers the same on the other side. It’s really important when you build a squad to move forwards you have guys like that.
“Andy has probably played 19 or 20 games so far this season and it has been different positions. He understands the role he has to play within the group and that’s on and off the pitch.
“He brings that understanding of what’s expected when you’re at a big club, the pressures that come with it and how to deal with it.
“These guys coming in who are 21, 22, 23 need people around them they can talk to and who understand.”
Neilson’s priority is to maintain Hearts ’ drive for third spot. He added: “We have our own expectations. When we came up from the Championship, we spoke externally about the top six.
“Realistically, we were looking for top three or top four. That’s where I believe this team should be. When you’re playing at Hearts you have to expect the pressure to be there. If you can’t handle the pressure somebody else comes in and plays instead of you.
“I think it’s great. We want to be winning games week in and week out. If we don’t win games there should be an expectation level where there’s going to be criticism coming.
“I had a points target at the start of the season and we’re still on course. We looked over the last 10 or 12 years to see what you had to get to almost guarantee third. We’re not far off that at the moment and we’ll continually try to push for it.”
Neilson is expecting a tough game as the Dons try to impress new boss Jim Goodwin. Neilson said: “Jim will maybe tinker with the shape a wee bit. It was 4-3-3 at the weekend and I expect it to be much the same.
“But we’re at home, we’ll play how we want to play and if we can put on a performance then we should have enough to win the game.”
