CHECKING OUT ON A HIGH HAS PATERSON’S FULL ATTENTION

CALLUM PATERSON has promised that his full concentration will remain on a final season of achievement at Hearts while his contract runs down.

The signs had already been encouraging as, in between offers from Wigan Athletic late in August, the defender scored in a 2-1 victory at Partick Thistle.

And on Friday night at Motherwell, the 21-year-old struck for the first time since a bid short of the £1million asking price was booted out on deadline day.

It was a stunning goal from distance by Paterson, with his seldom heralded left foot in a 3-1 win, more footage for admirers to consider in what is sure to be a keenly fought contest for his signature.

That issue, however, will be for another day. As he is able to sign a pre-contract, that moment may arrive in January. Any move will eventually cop Hearts a development fee in the region of £400,000.

Yet it will not be one, for Paterson, capable of interfering with his aim of helping Hearts to the highest possible rank in the Ladbrokes Premiership.

Paterson, whose team head into the international break in

third place, said: ‘I’ve got plenty of time. I’ve still got until the end of this year, so I will be focusing on my football here. It’s really pleasing to be up there.

‘We deserve to be there after how we’ve played so far. We showed that against Motherwell. Thankfully, the goals came to get us the three points.

‘We’ve got to be confident we can stay up there in the league. We’ve played eight games now and if we keep carrying our form on or get better, then we won’t get any lower.’

Addressing the persistence of English Championship strugglers Wigan late in the most recent transfer window, he added: ‘These situations happen in football and you’ve just got to get on with your job.

‘I’m happy that it’s in the past now and I’m playing football again. ‘You deal with it by getting out there, doing your job and letting other people do the talking. It’s easy for a professional to do that. That’s what I did.’