Robbie Neilson reckons John Souttar can force his way back into the Scotland set-up if he can rack up 50 games in a row for Hearts.
The defender has been cursed by serious injuries and managed just 11 appearances in the last two years - five of those coming this season.
But after returning from two ruptured Achilles in the space of seven months Souttar has hit the ground running on the right of a three man backline.
Hearts have opened talks with the 24-year-old, who has three caps, over extending his deal beyond next summer.
And Neilson said: “John is just getting back to full fitness. He has a year left on his contract and we have opened up talks early to try and get it sorted.
“It’s been a tough few years for John injury wise and now it’s a case of focusing on getting back to playing week in and week out.
“We want to get him up to 50 - 100 games consistently.
“If he can do that then he will get back to his best and hopefully get in about the national team. Then everyone is happy.”
Neilson is hoping Australian midfielder Cameron Devlin will arrive in Scotland in the next week after completing his period of isolation.
The 23-year-old is still waiting for a visa application to be passed.
Meanwhile, Neilson took in Celtic’s win over Jablonec on Thursday night and reckons his players must rise to the challenge in Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup tie at Parkhead.
He said: “This is a great opportunity for us.
“We had a good result against Celtic a couple of weeks ago. But it’s a different issue when you go to Parkhead. It will be tough.
“But we go there looking to win and to go as far as we can in the cups.
“I was at Celtic Park last night and there were 50-odd thousand there, which was brilliant.
“It was one of the motivations when we were in the Championship, getting back to these big games in front of big crowds, whether that be at Tynecastle or elsewhere.
“We’ve got a number of players who have played in these big environments . They’re all looking forward to getting back to it.”
