Craig Halkett missed out on silverware at the end of last season, but insists representing Hearts in Europe will be the highlight of his career.
The Jambos romped to third place last season, and guaranteed group stage football until at least November by dumping rivals Hibs out of the Scottish Cup semi-finals for a fourth time. A 2-0 extra-time defeat to Rangers in the final at Hampden meant the season ended on a disappointing note, but the big picture makes for good viewing.
The Jambos are 180 minutes away from the group stages of the Europa League and will discover their play-off round opponents in next month’s draw. However, they still have the safety net of the Europa Conference League should they lose, which will see them bank around £3.5million.
For Halkett though, it’s all about the challenge. He expected it could be a regular occurrence when signed a pre-contract to make the move from Livingston in 2019. However, a first, albeit shortened season in maroon ended in demotion to the Championship after Covid plunged Scottish football into cold storage. But Robbie Neilson’s men will be heading for warmer climes this season, and it's better late than never as far as Halkett is concerned.
"Definitely, aye,” he replied when asked if a Euro adventure would be a career high. “When I came to Hearts, that was something I had in the back of my head. That they were a club that could push for these sort of games.
“Unfortunately it didn't go that way the first three years, but we've managed to do it. But 100 per cent it'll be the highlight of my career. Speaking to Andy [Halliday] and Craig [Gordon] who have experienced it before and say how good it is, it's something I'm massively looking forward to.
“Hopefully when they come, it's not just going to be about taking part and enjoying the experience. We want to put our stamp on it. We're a good team and hopefully we can pick up some points along the way."
Hearts are in the thick of their pre-season preparations after a week-long training camp in Spain, which has been followed by friendly wins over East Fife and Spartans.
Halkett joined the squad at the La Cala resort near Marbella, but followed an individual programme following an ankle injury that tempered the derby delight in the last four of the Scottish Cup.
The Scotland call-up required surgery after going down under a challenge from James Scott, but that was postponed until after the final showdown with his former club, and was fit enough to play 15 minutes in the final Premiership match of the campaign, which served as a dress rehearsal.
The 26-year-old went under the knife two days later, and while he won’t feature against SPFL new boys Bonnyrigg Rose at Tynecastle this afternoon, next week’s fixtures against Tranmere Rovers and Preston North End could see him get a run out.
"It's been tough,” he admitted. This is the first time I've had an operation and a major injury.
“Being out for a while, it came at a good time in that it was during the summer and off-season.
"It was two or three days [after the final].That decision was made after I got injured in the semi-final. I spoke to the surgeon the week after. I'd be able to play in the final then just get in done straight away, which would mean I'd miss a little bit of pre-season, but not the start of the season.
"I came back and played about 15 minutes against Rangers in the league game but that was more a mental thing. Having been out for so long, it would've been a big ask to just go onto the pitch and play in a cup final.It was important to get minutes there and we had a bounce game which was a little bit of a setback at the time.”
Halkett has a couple of new defensive colleagues for the season ahead. He added: Lewis [Neilson] looked really good against Europa in Spain, I was really impressed.
“I’ve not met Kye Rowles yet but I watched the Australia v Peru game and he got Man of the Match. He looked really solid.”
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