John Souttar wants to repay Hearts for their faith

The Scotland defender agreed a deal until 2022 to replace his previous one, which was due to expire next year.

He cited Hearts’ ambition and family values as reasons to extend his contract but pointed to his own development as the major factor. Souttar, 22, was signed for £120,000 from Dundee United in February 2016 and has since become a full internationalist and a mainstay in Craig Levein’s team.

“I’ve improved massively. I feel a completely different player now,” he said. “I am older, more experienced. I felt like a young boy when I came and now I am probably one of the most experienced players in the team when it comes to playing games for my age.

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“The gaffer has been great for me in terms of playing me and giving me lots of opportunities. I’ve also learned so much from playing alongside Christophe Berra. When he first came in I played that whole season in a back three alongside him and Aaron Hughes. That was amazing for my development. The gaffer was a centre-half as well and I am still learning from him as well, so it’s good.”

Souttar joins Berra and Michael Smith in extending their Hearts contracts. Levein said others could follow. “Christophe’s attitude is second to none so it’s a no-brainer getting him tied up. I was really pleased that Michael Smith signed a new contract and I’m working on some others as well,” said the manager.

Souttar now wants to pay Hearts back for honing him into one of Scotland’s most valuable centre-backs. “It is an ambitious club. They don’t just want to stay in mid-table. We all want to push for Europe,” he continued. “I’m really happy here, I want to give something back and hopefully I can do that.

“I enjoy it here, I really like working under the gaffer. I like the whole club, how it’s run, it’s a real family club. They took me here when I was going through a bad time in my career so I owe them something back as well.”

Hearts travel to Kilmarnock tonight hoping to strengthen their quest for European qualification. Souttar believes the current squad are close to achieving something as key players return from injury.

“Yeah, definitely. I think the start of the season gave everyone a taster of what we can do,” he said. “We started off so well and I think, once we get everyone back fit, it will feel like the start of the season again.

“I think we could do something good this season but it’s alright saying it. You still need to perform. I know Kilmarnock are flying but it’s a great chance for us. We went there at the start of the season and won 1-0. So it’s doable.