How John Souttar was told to cut out risky defending by Hearts team-mate

“He wants to learn and he asks a lot of questions. I said to him: ‘Look, I’ll give you my opinion. Before I met you I thought you were a defender who makes strikers think, ‘oooft, I might get something off of him’.’ He would put himself in situations where he just gets a toe in. I said to him that perception would carry on unless he got rid of it.”

It proved to be a pivotal chat. Souttar refined his game to the point where he now has the necessary attributes to become an international regular. He could start tomorrow as new Scotland manager Steve Clarke begins his reign at home to Cyrpus in a European Championship qualifier.

“From training with John I learned that he actually doesn’t give much away,” continued Naismith, unavailable whilst recovering from injury.

“He has improved massively. Not just on the ball but also as a defender. I think that’s why he got his Scotland chance – because he did become more reliable. You look at defenders like Virgil van Dijk and there’s never a moment when you think the striker is going to nick it off him. It doesn’t really happen.

“John never gave up a lot of chances but the perception of me being down south watching Scottish games was that John was risky. He took a lot of risks as a defender. I must say over the last year he has massively improved in that regard.”

That discussion back in the early weeks of 2018 proved Naismith’s belief that honesty is always the best policy. “The funny thing is that I roomed with John with Scotland. I knew he was someone who could take it, that he could go further. For me, honesty has always been the best way.

“He is somebody I knew to be a strong character, very mature beyond his age. You look at him now and he is an established Scotland player.”

At 22, Souttar appears to recognise he still has plenty scope to develop. “Yeah, I noticed that early doors. He is somebody who hangs about with the most experienced boys in the Hearts changing room,” revealed Naismith.

‘That tells you what he is like as a character. He understands that, in the Hearts dressing room, Christophe Berra, me and Aaron Hughes have all played in England at a higher level and that it makes sense to ask questions. Why would you not want to find out about what goes on down south?

“Even when he first came into the Scotland squad I did say to him: ‘You will notice a difference from the mindset and quality of the players to what you are used to.’

“He embraces it all, wants to try new things. He doesn’t say: ‘Nah, I’m not trying that. I know what works for me.’ He is open minded in the way he lives his life and diet and things like that that. He will try it to work out what’s best for him and over the last year the rewards have come.

“He has made his international debut, been captain of Hearts, become a mainstay and a big player. He is progressing down the right track and I would imagine in the next few years he will progress more.”

Souttar and Aberdeen’s Scott McKenna are competing for starting berths against Cyprus. “They’ve definitely played for the younger international age groups together,” said Naismith.

“Charlie Mulgrew is probably in a similar boat to me. This is one of his last chances to make it to a tournament and he will be doing all he can. It depends how the manager wantsus to play – to be more expansive or not. But we’ve definitely got a few different options now.”

• Steven Naismith was speaking at this year’s Scottish Football Hall of Fame launch.