Steve Clarke admitted new Heart of Midlothian sporting director Graeme Jones will "be a big miss" - and revealed he will be with the Scotland national team until November.

Hearts confirmed on Wednesday that Jones will fill the role that has been vacant since Joe Savage left the club earlier this summer after three-and-a-half years at Tynecastle Park.

The move comes after nine years with the Scottish FA and national team. First starting out as head of football science and medicine in 2015, he progressed to head of high performance and more latterly performance director.

Jones has worked closely with Scotland managers durnig his time at Hampden as part of his "oversight across men’s and women’s national teams from A squad down".

No start date at Hearts has yet been confirmed but he will be with the Scotland squad for their next two camps after the current one. The national team play Poland in the Nations League this evening before Portugal on Sunday. They play Croatia and Portugal in October and finish off their Nations League campaign against Poland and Croatia in November.

“He’s going to be a big miss for me," Clarke said. "He has been an integral part of the staff since I got there. Graeme obviously got into that position before I came in. He was first put in that position with Alex McLeish.

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“If I am being honest, I think it’s not because of them, but circumstances across, we have always tried to build and build. I think it helps us qualify for tournaments. The bosses here give us a little bit more money. It allows us to push the boat out a little bit.

“Graeme’s input has been fantastic. Like everyone else, career moves come along. He had to make a decision on a career move, whether to stay with the association or try his hand at a club job. He has chosen to do that. We wish him well. He will be here for the next two camps after this one anyway. We are grateful for everything he has done.”