When Craig Levein let slip that John Souttar could be one long-distance call from international defection, the grenade-throwing Hearts boss knew exactly what he was doing.

The player, on the other hand, had absolutely no idea.

Less than a fortnight after Levein first let the koala out of the bag, Souttar could win his first full Scotland cap against Belgium tomorrow night, having been fast-tracked into Alex McLeish’s senior squad from the Under-21s.

It’s fairytale stuff for a player who, despite having an Aussie mum, has waited all his young life for the opportunity to pull on a dark blue shirt and who admits the idea of swapping nationalities had never once crossed his mind before Levein floated the scenario in public.

“You know what the gaffer’s like,” Souttar smiled when asked if Levein’s intervention might have got him here ahead of schedule.

(Image: SNS Group)

(Image: SNS)

“He enjoys that side of things. Maybe it did help, maybe it didn’t, I’m not sure.”

He’s not overly bothered either. All that matters to Souttar is that he now stands on the brink of achieving a childhood dream.

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The 21-year-old defender said: “My mum is Australian but playing for them was not something I’ve ever considered.

“I suppose I could have made the switch but it’s always just been Scotland for me.

“It could have been an option but I don’t think it would have felt right.

“I’ve grown up watching Scotland, wanting to play for Scotland. So I never really considered it.

“I’m not sure how my mum feels about that but my dad is the boss – at least where these things are concerned!

“There has never been any contact from Australia at any age group level. I don’t think anybody down there really knew about it. It is just one of those things.

“But Craig had heard me mention it a few times in the dressing room. He must just have picked it up when I was having banter with the Australian boys – I had no idea he was going to say what he did. It shocked me.”

Now look.

A fortnight on and Souttar has spent the week preparing for an international double-header which will become even more serious on Monday night when Alex McLeish’s tenure gets under way for real with a Nations League opener against Albania.

The hope is that Souttar, this baby-faced skyscraper, has got in on the ground floor of something special in the nick of time.

He said: “It’s exciting to be a part of it. It’s a dream come true and something that I’ve always wanted to do.

“The squad are a great bunch of boys. A few of us trained today and you can see the quality in a lot of the players so it’s good to be involved.

“Luckily, I know quite a lot of the boys. Four of us who came through together at Dundee United – Johnny Russell, Andy Robertson and Stuart Armstrong – and I’ve played

in the Under-21s with a lot of others.

“So it’s not as if I’ve walked into a squad with 20 strangers.

“At first I was named in the Under-21 squad again so I thought I’d have to wait a bit longer for a call-up.

“But thankfully I got the shout on Monday that I was going to be involved with the senior squad for the first time and that was brilliant.”

Souttar had hoped to be part of McLeish’s squad for the summer tour of the Americas before being ruled out of that travelling party with a hip injury.

As painful as it was at the time, he now believes missing that trip might have been a blessing in disguise.

Top of the Premiership at Tynecastle and about to launch an international career? It’s hard to argue.

He said: “I remember doing a fitness test and I knew myself it wasn’t right and I was trying to push it. It would have been stupid to go and make it worse.

“If I had done that I might not even have been in this squad. I might have still been injured. Looking back not going was probably the best decision ever.

“Taking the summer off and getting my body right for the start of this season was a good decision.

“As a club we had a tough pre-season and that benefited everyone because we have started the season so well.

“It has been a long time where there has been a proper feelgood factor at Hearts.

“It’s probably the first time it has happened in the two years I have been at the club. There has always been something going wrong.

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“But this is the first time that everything just seems to be going in the right direction. It is brilliant for everyone. Long may it continue.”