UNLESS you have been living under a particularly stubborn rock, you'll have noticed Scotland's upcoming World Cup play off against Ukraine – if it even goes ahead – hardly seems to matter. At least not in the grand scheme of things. 

But it could mean a great deal to Heart of Midlothian defender Craig Halkett. In one of those purple patches that only comes around every so often, if he's not quite in Steve Clarke's waking thoughts, he's at least making his way through the Scotland boss' subconscious. Like some sort of maroon-clad Freddy Krueger, only more likely to head the ball 50 yards up the park than terrorise a small town. 

Such is his fine form that his own manager, Robbie Neilson, has talked up the former Livingston man's chances of sneaking into Clarke's next squad and, with the likes of Ryan Porteous and Liam Cooper likely casualties, it looks increasingly likely a Halkett-shaped hole might appear. 

The Herald: Liam Cooper's ongoing injury woes have opened the door to the Scotland squad Liam Cooper's ongoing injury woes have opened the door to the Scotland squad

Not that Halkett, a former Scotland youth internationalist, is letting the noise get to him. 

“It’s great to hear the gaffer saying he thinks I could be selected for Scotland," the 26-year-old said. “From my point of view it’s just about getting my head down and playing as well as I can for Hearts.

“I need to try and get us in the best position we can in the league and if a Scotland cap came on the back of that I would be absolutely delighted.

“I don’t worry about it too much though, I just worry about producing the goods on the park and what will, be will be. I can’t deny it every player dreams of playing for your country.

“It would be an honour to play for Scotland and the family would be over the moon.

“But right now it’s about playing for Hearts and doing my best for them.”

If Halkett is rewarded for his fine form, then he could find himself heading to Hampden alongside a couple of teammates. Injury woes aside, John Souttar is likely to take his place again, but it's the form of Barrie McKay that's got people talking. 

The Herald: John Souttar is likely to make the Scotland squad alongside a number of Hearts teammates John Souttar is likely to make the Scotland squad alongside a number of Hearts teammates

Only James Tavernier has more assists in the league than the former Rangers man this season and Halkett believes McKay wouldn't look out of place.

“The manager has mentioned Barrie for Scotland as well this season as he has been one of our top players," he said. “The number of assists he has is great.”

Meanwhile, Nicky Clark, the Dundee United striker, has backed his team to turn their recent draws into wins and claim fourth spot. Saturday's draw means they now sit outside the top six and have won just twice in 16 games, but it's all to play for ahead of the split. 

"This is a massive club and the fans expect it, we expect it, the staff expect it," he said.

"That’s the aim but it’s tough when you see how tight the league is.

"It’s hard. Everyone beats everyone. We just need to concentrate on ourselves. The next couple of games are massive but that’s the aim — to get us in that (European) spot."