Souttar reminded that patience is still a virtue

KILMARNOCK

V HEARTS

Robbie Neilson believes Callum Paterson is the perfect example of how promising young Hearts players can benefit from patience.

John Souttar is the latest Tynecastle player to be monitored by scouts from down south, with Aston Villa credited with an interest. But, with the transfer window closed and the club keen to keep the Scotland under-21 defender, head coach Neilson has urged Souttar to keep a level head and continue developing his game, citing Paterson as a template of what could be achieved if he does.

It is expected that the full-back, who has been watched by numerous English sides, will finally make the move south when his contract expires at the end of the term. But the fact that he has been willing to bide his time means the 22 year old, who graduated from the Gorgie youth ranks, will leave the capital as a full international, with over 150 first team appearances, and Europa League experience. That should land him a better deal, according to his boss, who is more concerned with getting maximum points against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park this evening.

“Callum will go in the summer and he’ll go to be a firstteam player,” insisted Neilson. “That is what I want for all my players. Whenever they go, whether it’s for a fee or compensation, we want them to be first-team players. I don’t want [them] to leave Hearts to be under-21 players in England or get loaned out. You want them to be ready.”

The speculation surrounding Souttar has prompted some training ground teasing but nothing more, with Neilson fairly sure that it will not turn the player’s head.

“He’ll be fine. The window doesn’t open until January so we are still two months away and there are people talking about teams doing this and doing that. It’s part of football. He’s been one of our key players this year, he’s young, he has great potential so I expect more and more of this to happen before the window opens.

“You want your players to be linked to big teams, you just hope it doesn’t affect them. But John understands. When he came through as a kid at [Dundee] United he was linked with clubs left, right and centre. It’s second nature to him. The majority of them are like that – they all get linked, [Jamie] Walker, [Sam] Nicholson, Paterson, it’s just part and parcel of football. We usually just have a laugh and a joke about it and say ‘who is it this week?’”

“Weseehisfutureathearts. John understands that he still has another couple of years to do here. He needs to mature, get more physical and learn as a defender. You can see the progression he has made since coming to Hearts but he can still move up a few steps before he is ready to move down south. The next step for John is to try and get into the national team and play at a consistent level through an entire season at club level. Callum Paterson is an example of that.”