Hearts boss Robbie Neilson believes Steven Naismith has earned the right to decide his future as his star man weighs up whether to retire this summer.
The 34-year-old Jambos skipper has battled through a number of serious knee injuries in recent years and remains a key contributor at Tynecastle.
But the Hearts manager admits he has sat down with the former Scotland international and it's a "50/50" call to potentially hang up his boots at the end of the Championship season.
Hearts will return to the Premiership next season and will be hell-bent on proving their worth after an inconsistent season in Scottish football's second tier.
And Neilson admits the experience his key man brings will be hard to replace if he does walk away from the sport.
He said: “We had a chat about it a few days ago when Steven came to speak to me to let me know what his thoughts were on things.
“Steven’s earned the right to decide what he wants to do in the summer and we’ll back him either way. He’s had a fantastic career and has been great for us this year with his leadership on and off the pitch.
“Now he's at that stage of his career when he has to make a decision so we’ll wait and see. He’s been great for the time that I’ve been here and whatever he decides, we’ll back him 100 per cent.
"Off the pitch, his leadership has been fantastic and it’s been great just having him around the place. Similar to Craig Gordon, he’s played at the highest level.
“On the pitch, he probably hasn’t played as much as he would’ve liked through injury but when he does get on the pitch he brings a calmness and an assuredness to the team. So that would be missed.
“He’s 50/50 and we’ve all been there. You have days when you’re Steven’s age when you come in and you feel 21 and there’s other days you come in and you feel 51.”
