Why it's definitely time for Hearts star Aaron Hickey to receive a Scotland under-21 call

After resisting against the temptation to call up Hearts defender Aaron Hickey to the under-21s at the end of October, Scotland coach Scot Gemmill explained his reasoning.

He said: "We are constantly assessing it. We are trying to get that balance right between being as competitive as we can but also helping these players. For myself and the staff, it’s a huge responsibility to help the boys maximise their potential. They need opportunities to do that.”

It sounds fair enough. Hickey is still only 17 and has been playing first-team football less than a year. Although, it was a little strange to talk about the need for the team to be "competitive" when Hickey had a stronger pedigree than the other two left-backs in the squad.

Daniel Harvie plays consistently and excellently for Ayr United, but that is in the Scottish Championship, a division currently being dominated by a Dundee United team that, outside Lawrence Shankland, isn't even that good.

Then there's Patrick Reading who, at the time of Gemmill's comments, hadn't even made his debut for League Two Stevenage.

This isn't designed to belittle those players. Harvie certainly has quality and we can only assume the same for Reading. But are they as good as Hickey? Were they at the time of the last squad? It seems doubtful.

Perhaps Gemmill wasn't satisfied with the sample size at the time. Yes, Hickey had been excellent in the Scottish Cup final against Celtic and 22-goal James Forrest, and he later scored the winning goal in an Edinburgh derby at Easter Road, but the manager may have been concerned with too much, too soon. He also wouldn't have wanted to jettison other players only for Hickey to turn out to be the next Paul McMullan.

As it turns out, Hickey has continued to impress in a season where he's been one of the few positives for Hearts fans. His performance in the Edinburgh derby last midweek again reinforced his tremendous potential as he battled superbly and kept Martin Boyle under wraps for the majority of the 90 minutes.

He certainly seems like a young man who thrives under pressure, so it shouldn't be a worry about chucking him into the under-21s while he's still a 17-year-old.

It's only going to be a matter of time before the left-back is at a big club. He's so far resisted the chance to remain at Tynecastle beyond his current contract, which expires at the end of next season. Serious offers will come in for his services this season, with Manchester City reported to be an interested suitor.

His development could potentially be huge for Scotland. Hickey's chances of getting much playing time at his preferred position for the national team are a little slim, seeing as Andy Robertson, Kieran Tierney and Greg Taylor are all 25 or younger and ahead of him in the pecking order. But Scotland are still struggling for options on the other side of the back four, and Hickey is more ambidextrous than those three stars named.

If he can progress in the manner many believe he can, he could be the answer to a potential problem position for Scotland over the course of a decade.

It's time for Scot Gemmill and the powers that be to take the first step towards reaching that goal by including him in tomorrow's squad.