Inside Craig Halkett's new deal and the Hearts approach

The 28-year-old had just missed 11 months of football and would be soon entering the final six months of his contract. Common practice would be to wait and see. Let the player return from his injury and prove he is worthy of an extension. From the outside looking in that would appear sensible. Then again, it puts pressure on a player whose main focus should be on building back up to previous levels in a steady manner. 

Hearts, however, set their stall out early, keen to reward the player for his hard work. It was left to Halkett to put the contract discussion on the "backburner" even with the view that Tynecastle Park was where he wanted to remain.

READ MORE: New Hearts deal, recovering from injury and race for third - Craig Halkett Q&A

“From my point of view, I was delighted," he said. “I had been out for a long time and even before my knee I had some bad injuries, so for the club to come to me at the time they did when I was coming back, I was delighted.

“The first I heard was maybe a couple of weeks into December, so right about when I was back and involved in squads. I was on the bench the first couple of games and then came on as a sub so it was right around that time.

“Obviously, we knew we had the break coming up and, from my point of view, I said to put it on the back burner for now as I just want to get my head down, focus on getting back fit, playing and starting games. The winter break came at a good time to sit down and talk about it and get it sorted as soon."

Hearts head coach Steven Naismith explained the club's position. It essentially boiled down to what's the point in waiting to offer a player a new deal when they are deserving of it.

"We need to get in a position where we identify who we think is valuable and who is really good for the club, and if they deserve a reward then we reward them, it doesn't matter how long they’ve got left," he said. 

"If we are going to offer them a new contract we do it at the right time which will give you goodwill short term but it also sends a message to everyone else about the kind of club we are and how we want to work."

He added: "We’re constantly monitoring - if someone’s done loads of hard work to get a new contract then they deserve it. It teaches the younger ones to work harder to get that. All the way through is to identify the players we want to keep and try to sign new deals. Halks was last week and hopefully, there’ll be a few more."

READ MORE: Steven Naismith Q&A: Hearts contract hope and transfer target conversations

While it was a no-brainer for the club to secure a defender who has all the key attributes required in Scottish football, it was also a "no-brainer" for the player as well. Even though he sought to put talks off until the winter break, it was not the case that he was doing so to weigh up his options.

Tynecastle is where Halkett wanted to be.

"It was a no-brainer from my point of view," he said. “Taking the injuries aside, I was really happy here and somewhere I’d want to stay and continue to play my football. But, obviously, after going through what I have been through and getting the help from the medical staff and the coaches, it wasn’t like me repaying them, but it was a good thing to do to stay here.

“Having gone through what I’ve been through and the help I've had from everybody at the club, I don’t think it ever crossed my mind at any point that if I came back and started playing well that I would start to look for a move or play my football elsewhere.

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“That's why you can take the injuries out of it, I’ve been happy. The choice to leave Livingston to come to Hearts was still the same thing in my mind as now, I want to be here and play my football here.”

He added: “Football can sometimes be quite cut-throat and I’m not daft. I knew the position I was in just coming back from a really serious injury so I wasn’t in any position to start demanding all sorts! It was just about being happy where I am.”