MUCH of the focus on Hearts in recent days has been on John Souttar and his decision to leave at the end of the season, if not before. However, Craig Halkett is convinced the players who have committed their futures to the club can be instrumental in securing a bright future at Tynecastle.

Souttar’s pre-contract agreement with Rangers and whether the Scotland internationalist will leave ahead of next week’s transfer deadline have largely overshadowed the astute business conducted by Hearts in the past month.

Halkett is one of four key figures - goalkeeper Craig Gordon and fellow defenders Stephen Kingsley and Michael Smith being the others - to have penned new deals with the Jambos and manager Robbie Neilson has revealed discussions are now likely with others who are soon to be out of contract.

“It was huge,” said Halkett when asked about the importance of getting the rest of the rearguard tied down on fresh terms. “For the last five, six, seven months we've had a settled back three or five, and Craig as well. So, to get myself, Stephen and Michael all signed up in a short period has been massive.

“Don't get me wrong, John is a sore one to lose. He has been a massive part of that defence and is a great character on and off the field, so I'll be gutted when he does leave, but having the other defenders signed up is a massive boost.

“It was all about Hearts [for me], if I’m honest. The contract talks began at the start of December but it was such a busy period with games that it was felt it was best just to put it on the back-burner and just concentrate on my football which is what we did.

“The winter break then came and that was a good time to sit down and talk through everything to try to get it sorted. And thankfully it did pretty quickly. But it was always going to be Hearts for myself.”

Neilson is adamant that Souttar will be involved against Celtic following the ankle problem that precluded him from Saturday’s Scottish Cup victory over Auchinleck Talbot. Sceptics, including former Hearts head coach Craig Levein, doubted the veracity of that injury amidst suggestions his exclusion was to ensure the defender would not be ‘cup-tied’ should Rangers agree a fee to sign him now.

Question marks have also been raised by supporters over Souttar’s commitment to Hearts now that it is known his future lies elsewhere. The boos that followed him around during last week’s victory over St Johnstone made some fans’ feelings clear.

However, as the Tynecastle outfit look for a repeat of the 2-1 victory they earned against Celtic on the opening day of the season in July, Halkett, who himself penned a pre-contract to join Hearts before seeing out the 2018-19 season at Livingston, trusts his team-mate.

“John is a strong character. He's a big boy and can look after himself,” he added. “There had been a lot spoken about him prior to that [St Johnstone] game, and when he signed the pre-contract it was maybe not expected, but there was always going to be some sort of reaction.

“To be fair to John, I think he handled it really, really well and put in a really good, professional performance. After the game, the boys were just really happy that we won the game and nothing was said about it.

“For me, and it will be the same for John, when you are still at the club you get the head down and you work hard. You are contracted to that club at that time so you just keep doing what you’ve been doing and whatever will happen, will happen.

“I’ve said before that the changing room here is really, really good. We all get on and have a good laugh. I don’t think anyone would take too kindly to someone if they thought they were downing tools and weren’t going to try.

"That’s not the case at all. John’s been working hard and he’s a top professional. He comes in every morning, works hard and trains really well. As long as he keeps doing that going forward everything will be great.”